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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



NORTHERN TIER 



OR, 



Life Among the Homestead Settlers 



iU,"-:c.OA--- 



Jeff. Jenkins. 



ic r^ 



TOPEKA, KANSAS: 

GEO. W. MARTIN, KANSAS PUBLISHING HOUSE. 

1880. 



Copyright, 1880, by E. J. Jenkins, Concordia, Kansas. 






TO 

SOL. MILLER, 

The Pioneer Editor op the Kansas Chief, 

"MY GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND," 

Whose keen observation of Men and Measures, and whose Gifts 

TO Freedom, Friendship and Fun, through the columns 

OP the Chief, enlivened so many Households 

during the many years succeeding 

the First Settlement of 

Northern Kansas, 

THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE, 



A prudent writer douhtlcss hesitates Ijefore publishinj^ his first book. The 
apprehension of criticism, the (lou])t of ability to meet the demands of the 
reading pul)lic, and the harrowing thought that the manuscript may be con- 
sidered as trash, are some of the reflections of the author as he arranges the 
chapters for pul)lication. 

A desire to preserve in permanent form some of the memorable scenes and 
incidents that transj)ired during my observation of the first settlement of 
Northern Kansas and the homestead region, was the motive (.)f the author in 
writing the following pages. 

These sheets were written during the interval between office liours, while 
I was engaged in the arduous duties of Receiver in the U. S. Land Office; 
and aware of defects, I trust this apology will be received kindly by friends 
among the early settlers, who I hope may be able to find something to interest 
and amuse them in these pages. 

Many of the incidents related came under my own observation ; but I am 
indebted to others for much information, to whom I have endeavored to give 
credit in the proper place. THE AUTHOR. 

Concordia, Kansas, January, 1880. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 1 Northern Kansas. 

CHAPTER 2 The Northern Tier. 

CHAPTER 3 Town Sites and Newspapers. 

CHAPTER 4 Fishing and Hunting about the Tarkio. 

CHAPTER 5 Samp Nodkins. 

CHAPTER 6 Northern Kansas Birds. 

CHAPTER 7 The Rhpublican Land District. 

CHAPTER 8 The Sermon. 

CHAPTER 9 Holding Court. 

CHAPTER 10 Scenery of Northwestern Kansas. 

CHAPTER 11 In the Land Ofeice. 

CHAPTER 12 The "Dug-Out" and Wedding. 

CHAPTER 13 The Homestead Region. 

CHAPTER 14 Lew Cassil, the Trapper. 

CHAPTER 15 CuNO Van Tansy. 

CHAPTER 16 Staging. 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 



CHAPTER 1. 

NOKTHERN KANSAS. 

Kansas! — the land of cottonwoods, grouse and good 
things; the land of ambrosial springs and Indian summer 
autumns; the land that secured the coronet of stars through 
difficulty — has a history, all of which has not been written. 
The graphic pen-pictures by Richardson, the statistical "An- 
nals" by Wilder, the characteristic details of border life by 
a number of authors, and the various contributions to the 
magazines and newspapers, constitute a history of value for 
future generations seeking facts in relation to the vicissitudes, 
hardships and persistence of the early settlers, while strug- 
gling to preserve the Territory and State from the doom of 
slavery. 

Journalists have speculated as to the route and terminus 
of Coronado's march ; and have vividly described the exploits 

(9) 



10 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

of Lane, Old John Brown of Osawatomie, and others along 
the southeastern border of the State, from the time of the 
erection of the first cabin on the town site of Lawrence down 
to the adoption of the Wyandotte constitution. They have 
portrayed the valor and fidelity of the men and women who, 
individually and collectively, were determined to have insti- 
tutions and laws unsullied by human slavery. ' To such de- 
scriptions have been added striking accounts of their physical 
and moral courage, exhibited under the most difficult circum- 
stances, which constitute a history of interest and value for 
the posterity of the pioneers in those stirring times. 

But the scenes and incidents in and about the camps, camp- 
fires and cabins of the early settlers of the " Northern Tier," 
and the frontier life of the "homestead settlers'^ of North- 
western Kansas, as yet form a part of the unwritten history 
of the State. The gold excitement in California in 1849 left 
its imprint in Northern Kansas, in the form of a well-beaten 
wagon-trail from the Missouri river along the "divides" to 
the Big Blue river, at a point where Marshall afterwards 
founded the village of Palmetto, the name of which was sub- 
sequently changed to Marysville. The long trains of covered 
wagons wended their devious way over the plains, starting 
the deer and antelope from their covert, watched by the vigi- 
lant eye of the cowardly coyote from adjacent ridges. The 



NOBTHEBN KANSAS. 11 

lowing of oxen and the camp-songs of the drivers disturbed 
the monotony of that wild waste of undulating territory. 
The wayside graves still mark the last resting-places of the 
less-fortunate adventurers, who had left home and kindred in 
the East to seek a shadowy fortune in the El Dorado of the 
West. The country through which this trail led from the 
Missouri river to the Big Blue, subsequently defined and 
named as the counties of Doniphan, Brown, Nemaha and 
Marshall, with a landscape of surpassing beauty stretching 
away as far as the vision extended, limited by the horizon or 
the timber skirting the small streams, fed by springs of pure 
water, induced the immigrants and first settlers to designate 
that region as the "garden spot of the world." 

The average California immigrant of 1849, after crossing 
the Missouri river at St. Joseph, seemed to exist in a world 
of his own, and all his former fancyings of fun and fast life 
on the plains gradually assumed the aspect of stern reality 
the farther he advanced from the settlements. That part of 
the route from the Missouri river to the Big Blue, being less 
exposed to the danger of lurking savages than the trail fur- 
ther westward, the immigrants realized their anticipated 
pleasure to the fullest extent in the chase after game during 
the day, and with jokes, anecdotes and hilarity around the 
camp-fires at night, while the blue smoke ascended in spiral 



12 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

wreaths from their new brier-root pipes. If any had regrets 
at leaving their sweethearts or their boyhood haunts about 
the old homestead, with transient depression of spirits or 
homesickness, they were soon dispelled by the jests of their 
companions, or the sudden crack of the sentry's rifle, aimed 
at the thieving coyote whose voracious appetite tempted him 
to reconnoiter the camp. 

Many are the romantic stories of adventure that transpired 
along that grass-grown trail. It was crossed at right angles 
in the western part of Brown county by what was known as 
Jim Lane's Road, traveled by Lane, Old John Brown of 
Osawatomie and others for a nobler purpose — guiding the 
hunted and harassed fugitive slaves to freedom, and return- 
ing with Free-State men, who dare not cross the State of 
Missouri, and who sought free homes on the wide prairies of 
Kansas, which had been consecrated to freedom by the battles 
of Osawatomie and Hickory Point. AYhen the fugitive slave 
had crossed the old " California trail,'' the dim outlines of the 
timber skirting the Nemaha, near the Nebraska line, met his 
vision at dawn of day, after a night of weary travel and con- 
stant alarm, beyond which he saw freedom, and 

"The thought, when admitted to that equal sky, 
His unsold children would bear him company." 

That old road is a part of the history of Kansas, and has 



NORTHERN KANSAS. 13 

been truly described by Maj. Morrill in his admirable pam- 
phlet on the history of Brown county. 

That old California trail is a trail of the past, having 
long since been defaced by the plowshare, and the onward 
march of civilization has driven the buffalo, deer and coyote 
from the adjacent country. Instead of the howl of the wolf 
and the camp-songs of the California immigrants, are heard 
the church and school bells, and the songs of husbandry and 
the hum of machinery accompany the labors of a free and 
happy people. 

When old Wathena had lived out his allotted time, his 
paraphernalia, trophies and traps had been checked for the 
"happy hunting-ground," and the remnant of his tribe had 
taken up their abode on the Kickapoo Reserve; when the 
Otoes and other blanketed tribes of the plains had been cor- 
raled on reservations, and the Kansas-Nebraska bill had be- 
come a law, immigrants from nearly every State in the Union 
rapidly settled in Northeastern Kansas. Log cabins in the 
timber and "dug-outs" on the prairie sprang up, with occa- 
sionally a more substantial structure, the proprietor of which 
possessed a little more of the necessary means to make him- 
self and family comfortable in a new country. In addition 
to the farmers, merchants and mechanics, the other indispens- 
able auxiliaries of a new settlement came — circuit riders, 



14 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

school teachers, doctors, lawyers, and those degenerate satires 
upon truth and honesty, excrescences hanging to the verge of 
the legal profession, commonly called pettifoggers. 

A celebrated English writer says: "The land is the mother 
of us all; nourishes, shelters, gladdens, lovingly enriches us 
all/^ I might add, when we have no further use for its ger- 
minating power, and have done paying high taxes for the 
use of and privilege of owning it, the land kindly receives 
us beneath its surface, to be undisturbed by contending forces 
in the ranks of war, the pursuits of enterprise, the allure- 
ments of avarice, or the peaceful avocation of agriculture. 

The inherent desire to own and occupy a quarter-section 
of land, whether hereditary or transmitted from the customs 
of ancient aristocracy, induced the young and middle-aged 
who were landless to immigrate to Kansas with a view to 
secure land and a home, under the preemption law of 4th 
September, 1841. Their vision of a new country was mag- 
nified by imaginary guide-posts to fortune, with less labor, 
fewer hardships and more pleasure than accompany a home 
in the older States. The boundless prairie constituted, to 
the sanguine mind, nature's extensive pasture as the ruminat- 
ing ground for "cattle on a thousand hills;" and the prairie 
sod was supposed to be as easily overturned as the green- 
sward of red-top and clover in a field in the older States 



NORTHERN KANSAS. 15 

that had been cleared and cultivated for half a century. The 
fact that it required to break prairie three or four yoke of 
oxen, with a plow the beam of which would make a half- 
cord of stove-wood, with iron fixtures sufficient to make a 
respectable cow-catcher for a locomotive, did not occur to the 
mind until instilled into it by experience. 

The family usually arrived in a covered wagon containing 
the family furniture and bedding, among which the small 
children alternately played and slept during the journey, 
while the large boys and girls drove the cows and calves, 
the house-dog bringing up the rear. A hastily-improvised 
chicken-coop was attached to the rear end of the wagon-box, 
from which the heads of the poultry protruded, manifesting 
a desire for freedom by their restless movements and incessant 
cooing and cackling. Each immigrant wagon contained its 
youthful Nimrod, generally the first-born, who had listened 
to the fireside hunting stories of his grandfather, or perchance 
had read the wild life and adventures of Boone, Wetzel, Ken- 
ton and others, until he imagined himself a hero, capable of 
defending the future Western home against the incursions of 
Indians, besides supplying the family with game. His hunt- 
ing exploits had been confined to squirrel-shooting in the 
beech-woods of Indiana, or oak groves of Ohio, with the 
periodical coon hunt, or to extracting the sullen woodchuck 



16 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

from his ancestral home in the rocks, the moss-grown log- 
heap or stone-pile in the meadow or woods pasture. He had 
spent hours brightening the old rifle, and had arranged his 
hunting paraphernalia as carefully as a trapper and hunter 
would preparatory to spending a winter in the wild passes of 
the Rocky Mountains. 

The initiatory steps to secure a tract of land were, to lay 
a foundation, with four logs, for a cabin, and hie away to the 
land office, then at Doniphan, and file a declaratory statement 
of intention to preempt the tract, which secured to the settler 
an inceptive right, the consummation of which required that 
he should reside upon, cultivate and improve the same for a 
period of twelve months; then pay one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, and receive a patent from the Government. 
During the interval between laying the foundation and fin- 
ishing the cabin, the family prepared their meals at the camp- 
fire, and slept in the covered wagon or a temporary tent 
prepared for that purpose. 

If this scene had its wild appearance, attended with hard- 
ships, it also had its attractions and picturesque beauties. 
The fertile soil awaiting development, covered with nutri- 
tious grass and beautiful wild flowers; the whirring of the 
prairie-chickens or grouse as they arose out of the tall grass 
and sailed away with their free flight to an adjacent ridge; 



NORTHERN KANSAS. 17 

the shrill whistle of the curlew and plover; the gobble of the 
wild-turkeys in the timber skirting the streams; the familiar 
notes of the lark, robin, jay, and other of nature's songsters, 
possessed attractions for every member of the family. The 
prospect of a home unburdened with rent and unincumbered 
with debt and mortgage; the future prospect of schools and 
"Churches, and the noble impulse to establish the nucleus of a 
civilization unsullied by human slavery, in which the health- 
ful breeze would fan the brows of a free people, served to 
-dispel the otherwise gloomy outlook. 

The conveniences and comforts of life being necessarily 
limited, induced the sanction of those social and neighborly 
customs adopted by the first settlers of the Middle and 
Western States during the first quarter of the present cen- 
tury. Their limited means would not permit social enter- 
tainments on the scale of the Knickerbockers, in former 
times, on the shores of the Hudson; but the traditional 
friendship and unrestrained hilarity that prevailed in the log 
cabins of fifty years ago, in the then frontier settlements, 
were fostered and encouraged by the first settlers of Northern 
Kansas. The cold rules and artificial lines of polite society 
were ignored. Visiting among the women and spontaneous 
gatherings of the men were pleasant occasions, at which their 
wild surroundings and future prospects were discussed, serv- 
2 



18 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

ing the two-fold purpose of affording mutual aid and confi- 
dence, and of banishing any lingering regrets at leaving their 
homes in the East. Camp and basket meetings among the 
pious, and dancing-parties for the young people, served to 
dispel the gloomy forebodings of the future, or the lingering 
pangs of sorrow and disappointment having their root in the 
past. Corn-huskings, "quilting-bees," and the snow-bound 
Christmas party, were heralded as events of hilarity and 
pleasure by the inmates of every household. At early dawn 
on Christmas morning the salute of firearms at the bed-room 
window of the lazy, late-sleeping farmer, by his more ener- 
getic, vigilant neighbor, was the signal for bringing forth the 
"little brown jug,^^ with the repetition of the adage, "It is 
the early bird that catches the worm," or the more patriotic 
expression, "Eternal vigilance is the price of" — a Christmas 
dram! 

Economy and frugality were more a matter of necessity 
than choice, and the rustic culinary genius who presided over 
the kitchen department often was compelled to divide the 
component parts of a meal with exact calculation, to make it 
last as long as possible. At one time, in a certain community, 
for several weeks, there was but a single piece of pork in the 
neighborhood, which was used alternately by each neighbor 
with which to cook beans and other vegetables, passing from 



NORTHERN KANSAS. 19 

one to the other, until it became ^^rich with the spoils of 
time," a sad relic of what originally would have constituted 
a square meal. The wearing apparel of the pioneer's family- 
indicated strict frugality, and "home-made" clothing, hastily 
improvised from grain sacks by an expert housewife, often 
decorated the person of the boys. In fact, it was an excellent 
opportunity to wear out old clothes that would have been 
discarded in older society. 

As the settlers were practically equal and mutually de- 
pendent, there was little cause for that envy, jealousy and 
selfishness which cause a large portion of the unhappiness in 
older communities. The log cabins and board shanties, 
though rude in architecture, sheltered as noble hearts as ever 
beat beneath costly vestments in palatial mansions, and, to 
use a common Western expression, " The latch-strings of the 
cabin-doors hung upon the outside," emblematic of the gen- 
uine charity and hospitality found within by the traveler and 
stranger. 

Those who are accustomed to refinement and plenty in the 
older States, doubtless would conclude that there was little 
happiness or pleasure in such a state of society. But aside 
from the political feuds growing out of the attempt to estab- 
lish slavery in the Territory, and the persecution of the Free- 
State settlers by daring and desperate men from the border 



20 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

slave States, the occupants of those log-cabins were among the 
happiest of mankind. The story, the joke, the song and the 
laugh were never better enjoyed than in the cabins and around 
the camp-fires of the first settlers of Northern Kansas. Roast 
turkey, venison, and the delicious prairie-chicken, never tasted 
better than when prepared beneath the sod roofs of the primi- 
tive cabins that dotted the " Northern Tier." 

The horseback ride over the prairie through the grass, 
hunting the cattle in the evening, guided by the distant 
tinkling of the cow-bel) ; the chase after the cowardly coyote; 
halting for a moment to look at the beautiful sea-like mirage 
growing less distinct as the sun disappeared behind the west- 
ern plains; while flocks of wild-geese and brant rose scream- 
ing from the fields, and sailed away with geometric regularity 
to the sand-bars and eddies of the Missouri — were experiences 
of daily life at certain seasons of the year, that for pleasure 
were scarcely surpassed by the halcyon days of my boyhood 
labor in the sugar camp, and the rambles through the dear 
old woods of the Buckeye State. 

While danger and hardships surrounded the settlers, still 
happy scenes of pleasure, like the bright beams of the morn- 
ing sun dispelling the gloom of night, pervaded every house- 
hold; and that hope for a bright future, that "springs eternal 
in the human breast," kindled a noble impulse to consecrate 



NORTHERN KANSAS. 21 

this beautiful land to freedom and Christianity, and establish 
a higher civilization. The sun-burned settler, clad in his 
home-made raiment, sat upon the inverted water - bucket, 
block of wood, or rude puncheon bench on the green-sward, 
beneath the shade of nature's canopy, and worshipped the 
Divine Being as devoutly, piously and acceptably, while lis- 
tening to the expounding of the scripture by an itinerant 
minister from a wagon-box for a pulpit, as the gaudily- 
dressed millionaire in Tremont Temple. That the settlers 
laid enduringly the foundations of a high civilization, with 
liberty and equality before the law, is manifest from the 
prosperity with which our progressive young commonwealth 
has been blessed. 

There is one spot in the Northern Tier that deserves more 
than a passing notice, and should be sacred in the memory of 
the members of the "mystic tie." In the northeast part of 
Doniphan county is a high hill or ridge, from which a fine 
view extends far up and down the Missouri river. On the 
summit of this hill, in 1854, was a beautiful oak grove, where, 
in the summer of that year, Smithton Lodge, No. 1, of Free 
Masons, was organized. It was the first lodge organized in 
the Territory. An Indian trail led through or near this 
grove to Smith's trading-post in the valley below. In the 
autumn of 1854 I passed over that trail, and well remember 



22 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

my admiration of that grove of trees at the time, but was not 
aware until some years afterward that the ceremony establish- 
ing Masonry in Kansas was performed there. The only sur- 
vivor of those who were present at that organization, residing 
in Kansas, to my knowledge, is the venerable Daniel Van- 
derslice, now living near Highland. He being the only one 
who can designate the exact spot where the ceremony was per- 
formed, it occurs to me that it would be proper, ere he passes 
from earth to a higher life, for the grand and subordinate 
lodges of the State to erect a small monument there, inscribed 
with the name and number of the lodge, and date of organi- 
zation. If the beautiful trees are still standing, doubtless a 
small portion of the ground could be purchased. It would 
be emblematic of a scene coincident with the first settlement 
of the Territory, of which every member of the order in the 
State might well feel proud. 



CHAPTER 2. 

THE NOETHEEN TIEE. 

That portion of JSTorthern Kansas familiarly known as the 
'^^ Northern Tier'' presented, during its first settlement, rare 
scenes of rural loveliness, from the Missouri river to the Big 
Blue. I have passed over that country in the spring and in 
autumn, during those early days. In the spring the grass 
was pushing its green blades from the warm soil; the elms 
and other trees along the streams were flushed with fragrant 
buds just bursting into leaflets; the wild plum bushes were 
whitened with beautiful blossoms, and countless lovely wild 
flowers decorated the banks of the streams and ravines. The 
robins, thrushes and jays flitted among the branches, and the 
rabbits skipped along the cow -paths. Musquito creek, in 
Doniphan county, where the old California trail crossed it, 
Wolf creek and Walnut creek, in Brown county, the Nemaha, 
in Nemaha county, and the Vermillion, in Marshall county, 
were beautiful timber-bordered streams in those early days in 
spring-time. Other smaller streams were equally attractive 

to the lonely traveler. 

(23) 



24 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

The bluffs and bottoms along the Missouri were heavily 
timbered before the woodchopper's ax and saw-mills made 
sad inroads in nature's groves. Thickets of plum bushes and 
hazel grew along the narrow bottoms and at the foot of the 
bluffs, in which the wild-turkeys built their nests, screened 
from view by the rank growth of wild flowers and foliage. 
The fox-squirrels leaped from branch to branch, or spent their 
summer mornings building their fragile houses of leaves 
among the branches of the stately elms. How I admired a 
ramble along those bluffs and table-lands in that early time, 
in search of the truant milch cows, the only guide to their 
shady retreat the tinkling of the cow-bell! In autumn, the 
wild grapes hung in clusters from the straggling vines; the 
frosted leaves, loosened from the stems, fell from the branches, 
or floated away at random, borne by the breeze; the walnuts 
dropping to the ground; coveys of quails rustled among the 
leaves as they hastened in single file to the nearest thicket of 
bushes; and the distant drumming of the ruffed grouse, re- 
minded one of '^ Gay's rural sports." 

The oldest permanent white settler in the "Northern Tier" 
was the Rev. S. M. Irvin, who came to Doniphan county in 
the spring of 1837, and took charge of the Indian Mission 
two miles east of the town of Highland. He crossed the 
Missouri river where St. Joseph now stands, then an Indian 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 25 

trading-post, owned and kept by Joseph Robideaux. At that 
time the Kickapoo Indians owned about half of the land now 
embraced in Doniphan county, and the lowas and Sacs and 
Foxes the other half. The villages of the Kickapoos, at that 
time, were near where Fort Leavenworth now stands; and 
the villages of the lowas and the Sacs were near the mouth 
of Wolf river, in Doniphan county. The Atchison & Ne- 
braska Railroad passes very near where they stood. The 
Mission building was completed the same year (1837) that 
Mr. Irvin came, and the Mission continued under his manage- 
ment and control until after the Indians relinquished their 
claim to the land, in 1853. 

When Mr. Irvin came to the Mission the Indians were 
barbarians, and the impression made upon them by instruc- 
tion and kind treatment at the Mission at first seemed to be 
but slight; but they in time became half-civilized, and have 
quit the chase and war altogether, and now live by farming 
and raising stock. Thus it will be seen that much good was 
done by the Mission, and to Mr. Irvin belongs that credit as 
the representative of the society that undertook the work. 
He composed and had printed in the Indian language a small 
grammar for the use of the Indians whom he was instructing^ 
a copy of which I believe is now among the treasures of the 
State Historical Society. 



26 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

He must have led a lonely life, far from white settlements, 
during the long years of his labor at the Mission, surrounded 
by a blanketed tribe of aborigines, whose only pursuits were 
the chase and war with other tribes ; whose signal of pleasure 
was the war-whoop, their recreation the war -dance, and 
their wigwam trophies the scalps of their enemies. Mr. 
Irvin exerted an influence over the Indians that still exists 
among the present remnant of the tribe on their reservation, 
and he is doubtless more familiar with the traits of Indian 
character than any man in the State. I trust he will yet give 
to the world that knowledge he acquired by his long service 
among the Indians, as a part of the unwritten history of the 
State. 

Out of the Mission grew the Highland University, an in- 
stitution of learning at Highland that has been an ornament 
to the town, and of great benefit to the surrounding country. 
The town of Highland was selected as a literary point, and 
its healthful location, beautiful surrounding scenery and lovely 
landscape stretching away in a level plain on either side, 
dotted here and there with beautiful groves of timber, have 
proved the wisdom and judgment of those who chose that 
spot for the University. The excellent moral society in and 
about Highland, the enterprise of the people, the handsome 
residences, the well-improved farms surrounding the town, the 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 27 

evidences of taste and neatness, the refinement and culture of 
the people, their genuine hospitality to strangers and visitors, 
and their worthy example to the students, make Highland an 
attractive place for those who desire a classical education. 

Closely identified with the early history of the Northern 
Tier was the establishment of the line between Kansas and 
Nebraska. The 40th parallel was established by Capt. Thos. 
J. Lee, of the Topographical Engineer Corps, U. S. A. His 
observations to establish the parallel were made on a sand-bar 
or beach on the east bank of the Missouri river, in the autumn 
of 1853; from which point John P. Johnson, now of High- 
land, fixed the initial or starting point on the west bank of 
the Missouri river, where he planted an iron monument. 
From this point he surveyed the line from ninety to one 
hundred miles west, erecting monuments of earth or stone. 
About the same time, Daniel Vanderslice was establishing 
the boundary lines of the Iowa and the Sac and Fox 
reservations. Vanderslice was an Indian agent, and his 
surveyor took observations on Roy's creek, and fixed the 
40th parallel within a rod of the line surveyed from the 
iron monument west. There were three lines run a distance 
of thirty-two miles west, all close together. The line run by 
order of Mr. Vanderslice was the first that was surveyed, 
which, after passing through the new Iowa reservation, 



28 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

formed the southern boundary of the Sac and Fox reserva- 
tion. The line run by Johnson was a little south, and the 
line that was finally adopted was very near the line run by 
Mr. Vanderslice. These lines all came in contact with each 
other, and Mr. Johnson continued the main line for ninety 
miles west. In running that line, the men under the employ 
of Mr. Johnson had rare sport. The timber along the streams 
abounded with wild-turkeys, and deer were numerous on the 
prairie; and as the men gathered around their camp-fires at 
night, they feasted on roast turkey and venison, and spent 
many pleasant evenings in story-telling, singing songs of by- 
gone times, and in the usual rollicking, fun-loving manner 
that attends camp life on the prairie. 

Mr. Johnson still resides at Highland, and can relate many 
amusing incidents that transpired during that survey. 

Mr. Vanderslice, though aged, still retains a distinct recol- 
lection of the scenes and incidents of those early days, and 
his labor in establishing the boundary lines of the Indian res- 
ervation, the incidents attending his agency, and the first set- 
tlement of that part of the State. An hour spent with the 
old gentleman discussing those early times is an hour of gen- 
uine pleasure. 

The report of the expedition of Lewis and Clarke up the 
Missouri river describes the headlands, promontories and 



THE NORTHERN TIER, 29 

beautiful scenery that still existed within the boundary of 
what is now Doniphan county when Mr. Irviu assumed his 
duties at the Mission. Though surrounded by the untutored 
aborigines, his lonely hours were made pleasant by the con- 
soling reflection that he was performing a great moral duty 
in his endeavor to instruct the wild inhabitants of the plains ; 
while his admiration of natural scenery was gratified for long 
years by the most beautiful landscape, which he has been per- 
mitted to live to see subjected to cultivation, and transformed 
into fields of grain and orchards of beauty. Hence, when 
the Kansas - Nebraska bill became a law, and immigrants 
began the erection of their cabins within sight of the old 
Mission, Mr. Irvin was rejoiced by the evidences of civ- 
ilization, and rendered material aid in making the settlers 
comfortable, and assisted in developing the country. His in- 
valuable services in establishing educational, moral and reli- 
gious society in that early settlement in and about Highland, 
secured for him the high esteem in which he is held by the 
people — the greatest earthly reward in his declining years for 
a long and well-spent life. 

The period from 1854 to the close of the war was an 
eventful one for the Northern Tier. Seventy miles of river 
border bounded Doniphan county, only separated from the 
State of Missouri by the Missouri river; while Lane's trail 



30 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

for the exit of fugitive slaves and for the arrival of Free- 
State settlers crossed the western part of Brown county. The 
anxiety of the settlers during those long years of doubt and 
distrust was at length dispelled by the establishment of peace, 
and enterprise soon secured prosperity and a progressive civ- 
ilization. 

Since the State has been dissected by railroads, it has be- 
come a matter of historical interest to know in what locality 
the first railroad was constructed. The first locomotive that 
ever blew a whistle on Kansas soil was on the Elwood & Pal- 
metto Railroad, on the 4th of July, 1860. The name of this 
road was subsequently changed to the St. Joseph & Denver 
City Railroad. The eastern terminus was at Elwood, oppo- 
site St. Joseph. M. JefiP. Thompson, of St. Joseph, was 
president, and having graded the road nearly to Troy, and 
laid down the iron to Wathena, a distance of four miles from 
the Missouri river, on the 4th of July, 1860, a locomotive 
and coach conveyed an excursion party to Wathena. The 
early settlers of Elwood and Wathena well remember the 
wild excitement and enthusiasm over the marvelous event of 
seeing the locomotive speeding westward through the dense 
forest on the wide bottom between Elwood and Wathena, 
conveying the first excursion party on the first railroad track 
built in Kansas. My memory traverses the past to a vivid 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 31 

recollection of that occasion, when I cut short a 4th-of-July 
oration at the village of Columbus, and with a party of 
friends on horseback galloped across the hills to Wathena to 
witness the excursion party arrive at that town. I had the 
pleasure also of witnessing the ceremonies attending the lay- 
ing of the first rail in Atchison on the Atchison & Pike's 
Peak, now the Central Branch U. P. Railroad ; but as there 
are abler pens than mine within the limits of that enterpris- 
ing city, I leave the history of its growth and prosperity to 
them. 

Another feature of enterprise in the early times was a 
small steamer that plied between the village of Bellemont 
and St. Joseph, upon which many pleasant boat-rides and 
excursions were had. 

During the war, of the sixteen gallant regiments Kansas 
furnished to battle for the perpetuity of the Union and the 
Government, the "Northern Tier'' furnished a large propor- 
tion, and many of the survivors of those different regiments 
are now among the thrifty farmers, mechanics and merchants 
of Northern Kansas. At their country's call they periled 
their lives in its defense, and upon the return of peace threw 
aside the trappings of martial array to assist in developing 
the fertile plains of Kansas. As their services in time of 
war form a material part of Kansas history, so their industry 



32 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

and enterprise in time of peace afford the best evidence of 
the stability of a republican form of government — evidence 
that the people in time of danger will volunteer to defend 
their country, and when peace returns, retire from the mili- 
tary ranks with honor, to the pursuits of agriculture and the 
various avocations that tend to develop the resources of the 
nation. 

Nature did a good work for Northern Kansas when she 
made the soil, and checkered it with meandering streams of 
pure water, and covered the ground with nutritious grasses. 
The climate, though variable, is one to be admired. The 
vernal beauty, enlivened with refreshing showers and sun- 
shine; the heat of summer moderated by salubrious, pleasant 
breezes; the mild, hazy days of autumn, with the absence of 
rain during winter, and an invigorating atmosphere, make the 
climate healthy and inviting. 

The hot winds and occasional drouths that were observed 
before the country was settled are thiugs of the past. Settle- 
ment and cultivation, with tree-planting, have removed the 
cause. Before the prairie-sod was turned with the plow, a 
large portion of the rain that fell flowed into the ravines and 
streams, and but little penetrated the soil. In a few hours 
the sun-dried earth contained no moisture to create vapor; 
hence the long intervals that elapsed without rain. Many 



THE NORTHERN TIER. 33 

of the small creeks and ravines that were then dry, except 
-during a fall of rain, have since become streams of running 
water, and springs are found in localities where water was 
not discovered when the country was first settled. The cause 
is the fact that, after the prairie-sod was broken, a large por- 
tion of the rain that fell penetrated the ground. This I have 
•observed in Northern Kansas, and it is doubtless true in 
other portions of the State, where settlements have existed 
for a few years. The cultivation of fruit and forest trees 
•doubtless contributes materially to the increase of rainfall; 
and when prairie-fires cease, and the land is cultivated and 
trees are planted, hot winds and drouths will entirely cease. 
When Northern Kansas was first settled, it was feared by the 
settlers that fruit-raising would be a failure, but after the soil 
became cultivated fruit trees flourished, and no better fruit is 
raised in the United States than in Northeastern Kansas. 
3 



CHAPTER 3. 

TOWN SITES AND NEWSPAPERS. 

The desire to speculate in town lots induced the laying-out 
of some fifteen town sites along the Missouri river, within 
the boundary of Doniphan county, and a number in Brown 
county ; and the dilapidated remains of Geary City, Palermo, 
Elwood, Bellemont, Columbus, Charleston, Lafayette, and 
other towns in Doniphan county, once embryo cities, are the 
relics of lost opportunities for greatness, transmitted to us on 
the elaborate delinquent tax-rolls of the county, or through 
the indulgent and loose legislation of the law-making power 
by which the streets and alleys have been vacated, and the 
sites changed into small farms. 

Those were stirring days when these now defunct villages 
were in a flourishing condition, the price of town lots ad- 
vancing, swapping horses an inalienable franchise, and assault 
and battery the code of honor. Each of those villages, being 
the head center of a township (except the townships that con- 
tained more than one village), had a justice of the peace and 
constable, and one or more pettifoggers who volunteered to 

conduct all the cases brought by parties, besides inducing 

(34) 



TOWN SITES AND NEWSPAPERS. 35 

people to bring suits for every imaginable grievance, until 
the practice before justices of the peace assumed such propor- 
tions that the lawyers were often called from the county seat 
to meet and combat the technical, surface acumen of petti- 
foggers; and a large per cent, of the practice in the district 
court was appealed cases from justices of the peace in those 
several villages. 

Many amusing scenes and incidents transpired in the jus- 
tices' courts in those early days, but to give them in detail 
would require more space than is designed for this chapter. 

An early indication of prosperity in many of those villages 
was the establishment of weekly newspapers by enterprising 
editors, who desired to assist in shaping the destiny of the 
Territory and future State. Who can estimate the benefit 
which the Territory, and subsequently the State, derived from 
the enterprise, the vigilance and industry of the publishers 
of newspapers? Their task was an ungrateful one at best, 
and their patient endurance unequal ed. They were expected 
to publish every communication sent them by whimsical 
scribblers in prose, and meaningless poetry indited by preco- 
cious genius, or incur the displeasure of the writers. They 
were obliged to clip with incessant industry from their ex- 
changes the little items that together formed so large a fund 
of interest in the news department. They were expected to 



36 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

answer all questions of subscribers and correspondents on 
history, religious and political, from the first chapter of the 
Pentateuch down to the last article of the constitution of the 
last State admitted into the Union. In short, as the popula- 
tion was from nearly every State in the Union, the editors 
were expected to please every one, pitch into every one's 
personal and political enemies, puff every office-seeker gratis, 
and insure the success of the party at the elections. To be 
neutral in those early days and stirring times was impossible, 
hence each editor was a member in good standing of one or 
the other of the political parties, and their papers were either 
designated as Free-State or Pro-Slavery in politics. 

No class of men were harder worked in their profession, 
with less remuneration for their services, than the editors 
and publishers of newspapers in the early days of Kansas. 
It was almost a miracle if they secured their bread and but- 
ter without incurring debt, and the uncertain, gloomy pros- 
pect of laying by an extra dollar for a '^ rainy day " or old 
age was dispiriting in the extreme. The only exhilarating 
exercise was slashing the name of some "dead-beat" from 
their books of subscription, or ventilating in an editorial the 
shortcomings of a political demagogue during the excitement 
of a campaign. 

Where is the early settler of Kansas who has not felt a 



TOWN SITES AND NEWSPAPERS. 37 

pride in the success of the newspaper of his adopted county 
that reflected his political views, and assisted in causing a 
rapid development of the country? The press in those early 
times had a powerful influence, not only in inducing immi- 
gration to the Territory, but the Free-State papers and those 
that advocated a ^^ree soiP^ and '^free homes for a free peo- 
ple," did much toward establishing the institutions, and the 
civil and religious liberty, that adorn our progressive young 
State. 

Those editors and publishers who, during the troublous 
times, did so much to advance the interests of the Territory 
and State, deserve not to be forgotten; and as the incidents 
contained in this book are limited to a certain portion of the 
State, and as perhaps no county in the State has had as many 
newspapers established within its borders as the county of 
Doniphan, it was the design of the author to publish a list 
of them, which was kindly furnished me by the editor of the 
Chief, and also the newspaper history of the counties of 
Brown, Nemaha and Marshall, as a part of the history of 
the "Northern Tier," but as that history is contained in the 
"First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture," 
it is omitted. Some twenty-five newspapers have been pub- 
lished at various periods in Doniphan county, some of which 
flourished for a few months, and then suspended, and others 
continued for years. 



38 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

The Kansas Chief, one of the first papers published in the 
county, is the oldest paper now published in the State, and 
its editor the oldest in continuous service. In May, 1857, 
he landed at White Cloud, and at once commenced the pub- 
lication of his paper. The storm-cloud of 1856 yet hung 
over the border, when "Free-State^' men sought refuge by 
night in the timber, and brave women with sleepless vigilance 
watched over the slumbers of the children in the cabins. 
Brock and Harding and others had been indicted and arrested 
on a charge of treason, for acting as judges of a Free-State 
election. The so-called "bogus code'' of 1855 was the law 
of the land. When the Free-State party along the seventy 
miles of river border were in need of some bold advocate of 
their rights by the press — when the timid were frightened, 
and the brave were serious and doubtful — it was then that 
the editor of the Chief, on the 4th of June, 1857, sent forth 
his paper, devoted to the championship of Free-State prin- 
ciples. His keen observation of men and measures, his bold 
advocacy of what he deemed right, his fearless denunciation 
of what he thought wrong, and his bold defense of the Free- 
State party, made his paper a valuable one, and from its 
columns the oppressed received courage and renewed hope 
for better days. He had a powerful memory, that went back 
to the distant past, and vividly sketched the shortcomings of 



TOWN SITES AND NEWSPAPERS. 39 

politicians who supposed their past acts were buried in obliv- 
ion, far beyond the reach of any newspaper editor. It may 
have been thought by the readers of his paper who had not 
the pleasure of his acquaintance personally, that he was selfish 
and sarcastic at all times and under all circumstances. On 
the contrary, he was a warm and generous friend; a genial, 
social fireside companion, fond of telling stories, and if some 
of his stories and editorial paragraphs were in questionable 
taste, they were regarded as harmless, the outburst of his 
mirth-loving, genial spirit. But the pungent paragraphs in 
his paper were a warning to his personal and political enemies 
that, if they attacked him, his ammunition was inexhaustible 
and his warfare relentless. His wit and anecdotes were pro- 
verbial, flashing out brilliant and pungent, in brief para- 
graphs; while the vivacity displayed in the columns of his 
paper and in his social intercourse with his friends clearly 
indicated that day-dreams never interrupted his well-known 
industry. The printing office was and is his cherished home, 
and the Chief his household idol. 



CHAPTER 4. 

A DAY'S FISHING AND HUNTING ON THE 
TAEKIO. 

"What is that, Joe?'' 

"Medicine! '' exclaimed Joe, as he deposited a demijohn in 
the wagon-box, among the camp equipage, boxes of provi- 
sions, fishing-tackle, etc. 

"The pint o' the business is," said Joe, "the water is bad 
in the Tarkio bottoms, and to prevent agur, I thought I 
would take along suthin' as a counter-irritant, as the doctors 
call it, against chills and bad water; and the snakes are crawl- 
ing out of their holes this warm weather, and some on us 
might get bit, and it's best to have a little of the counter- 
irritant along, for you know * an ounce of preventive is worth 
a pound of cure,' as the almanacs have it." 

"I will warrant a little of that in the demijohn will pre- 
vent ^agur,' banish ^muskeeters,' and cure snake-bites." 

The above dialogue occurred between Joe and the author^ 
on a bright May morning during the early settlement of Kan- 
sas, while engaged in loading a wagon with provisions, hunting 

material, and fishing tackle, consisting of a seine, fishing-boat^ 

(40) 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 41 

and other appliances, preparatory to starting on a hunting and 
fishing excursion about the Tarkio and Nodaway rivers, some 
fifteen miles north of Troy, Kansas, and across the Missouri 
river. At that time there were numerous ponds along the 
shores of the Tarkio and Nodaway, on and about which wild 
ducks lingered late in the spring, and the still water at the 
mouth of those streams abounded in fish. The party con- 
sisted of a lawyer of Quaker descent, whom I shall designate 
as Judge, as he afterward wore the judicial ermine; Uncle 
Charley, the inn-keeper; Joe, the proprietor of the seine and 
the boat; and the author. 

It was the first week in May. The wild geese and brant 
had gone north, but a large number of wild ducks still re- 
mained about the ponds and creeks, and, to use Joe's expres- 
sion, **The fish were running up stream, and it was a good 
time to cast the net.'' The "outfit" consisted of a light 
wagon, loaded with sundry hunting and fishing material,, 
boxes of "eatables," and Joe's demijohn of drinkables. As 
none of the party were technical or strict constructionists of 
the rules and obligations of the temperance societies, or fully 
up to the standard of total abstinence, we did not demur to- 
Joe's last addition to the cargo. 

We set out shortly after sunrise, and it is needless to de- 
scribe the journey to the Missouri — the stopping of the wagoQ 



42 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

for the Judge and Charley to alight and reconnoiter a thicket 
into which they protested they had seen a rabbit rnn, or to 
climb a rugged side-hill in pursuit of some truant squirrel, 
whose agile movements among the branches of a tree had 
attracted their attention, while Joe meanwhile manifested his 
impatience to cast his net by sundry expressions of question- 
able moral import. 

Arriving on the bank of the Missouri, we dismissed the 
teamster, with instructions to meet us at a certain spot, in two 
days, and then launched Joe's boat. We landed on the op- 
posite shore, two miles above the Tarkio, and the Judge and 
I disembarked, with the understanding that we were to hunt 
through the woods to the stream, while Joe and Charley 
rowed the boat down to the mouth of the stream, moored it, 
cast the net, put out the lines for fish, and waited until we 
joined them. The Judge made a circuit through the woods 
to the left, towards the ponds along the Tarkio, and I hunted 
through the woods at a convenient distance from the river, 
managing to bag several fox-squirrels on my way. I had 
arrived on the bank of the Tarkio, when the roar of the 
Judge's gun up the creek indicated that he was among the 
ducks; and a flock of mallards came flying down the creek, 
one of which I killed on the wing, and as it fell into the 
shallow water I undertook to secure it, the water not being 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 43 

above my boots in depth. As I neared the duck I became 
conscious that I was sinking in the quicksand at each step, 
and was scarcely able to extricate my feet. In this situation 
I halted, and called loudly to Joe and Charley for help, still 
sinking lower in the sand. I threw my gun and equipments 
on shore as Joe arrived on the scene, and, notwithstanding 
his anxiety for my safety, he could not forego the pleasure 
of placing his hands upon his knees (a position he usually 
assumed when pleased) and enjoying a hearty laugh at my 
expense, while I was settling down in the sand and mud, and 
calling lustily for help. Joe, becoming alarmed, cut his mer- 
riment short by procuring a fence-rail from a pile of drift, 
and placing it alongside of me, assisted me to extricate my 
limbs; and as soon as I was on shore he commenced his up- 
roarious laughter at my expense, occasionally throwing in 
some Western phrases, to add to my mortification, while I 
sorrowfully viewed my mud-covered garments. Charley had 
left the net and arrived on the scene just as Joe and I had 
reached the shore; his good-natured laughter, added to Joe's 
merriment, increased my chagrin at my situation. 

Soon after, the Judge appeared, and after silently viewing 
me for a few moments, contributed some long-drawn-out 
sentences of comment, from which any one could infer that 
he was of Quaker descent. I could not laugh, and I was too 



44 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

old to weep; but upon Joe remarking that I should be more 
thankful to him and the fence-rail than to Providence, and 
that I should not be so serious, I finallj^ half-way enjoyed the 
scene and situation, barring the sight of the mud armour that 
encased ray limbs. 

We then repaired to the mouth of the creek, where Joe 
and Charley already had a fine fish dressed for dinner. The 
Judge moved that I should seek a secluded spot in the sun- 
shine, and dry my garments as best I could, while they pre- 
pared dinner. Charley seconded the motion, but Joe ex- 
pressed a desire to debate the question, though he could not 
repress his laughter at my situation long enough to indulge 
in the classical expressions usual to him on such occasions. 

Joe was steward of the party, and I must admit that he 
could prepare the best meal while in camp of any one with 
whom I have camped, and I was somewhat familiar with 
such matters in the early settlement of Kansas. While Joe 
was preparing dinner, as often as he looked at me his culinary 
preparations were interrupted with one of his uproarious 
spasms of laughter. 

After dinner, it was agreed that Joe and Charley should 
take the boat down the river to the mouth of the Nodaway,, 
ascend that stream as far as the '^back water'' extended, cast 
the net, and select a camping place for the night; while the 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 45 

Judge and I should cross the wooded heights, until we arrived 
at the Nodaway, and hunt down that stream to the camp. 
Joe and Charley embarked, and the Judge and I took up our 
line of march across the hills. The country consisted of an 
irregular range of hills, forming the bluffs bordering the Mis- 
souri. The trees were expanding their buds into leaflets; 
violets and other wild flowers beautified the ground; chip- 
muncks chattered from decayed logs, or leaped across our 
pathway; and occasionally a ruffed grouse whirred away, as 
the Judge risked a long shot after him, through the brush 
and branches of the trees. 

The entire scene was one of loveliness to a denizen of the 
prairie. We bagged a number of squirrels and a couple of 
ruffed grouse in crossing that range of hills, and arrived late 
in the afternoon on the bank of the Nodaway, at or near one 
of those small lakes or ponds in the bottom, where we spent 
an hour, during which time we had rare sport at "wing 
shooting," as the wild ducks were constantly approaching and 
departing from the pond. We succeeded in securing a num- 
ber of ducks, and then continued our journey down the 
Nodaway, where we found Joe and Charley in camp in a 
beautiful grove, preparing supper. Joe was not an expert at 
hunting, his forte being fishing; but with Charley's gun he 
had managed to bring down a bird commonly called, in the 



46 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

West, a "mud -hen/' a species of fowl found along small 
streams and marshy places, somewhat resembling a small 
black barn-yard fowl, with feet partially webbed, and which 
might properly be described as a cross between a duck and a 
small crane. It is entirely ignored by sportsmen as not be- 
ing a game bird — its flesh of a dark, astringent character, 
unfit for the table. Joe declared that as it was the only game 
he had killed, he designed to prepare it and broil it for his 
supper. Charley declared he could not eat it, and the Judge 
volunteered sundry expressions descriptive of the bird not 
found in any work on ornithology, and not very complimen- 
tary to the bird's pedigree; but all to no purpose, as Joe in- 
sisted he would have it for his supper, and placed it on a 
forked stick facing the fire, before he commenced preparing 
supper for us. 

The grove, the silent water of the Nodaway, the shadows 
of night closing around us, with the mild rays of the moon 
penetrating the spaces between the branches and checkering 
the landscape with spots of light, made the whole scene 
romantic, interrupted only by the unwelcome music of a mus- 
quito as he reconnoitered the vulnerable points about our 
ears. 

As we assembled for supper, Joe deposited his broiled bird 
on his tin-plate. It resembled a dark-colored piece of bark 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 47 

warped by alternate rain and sunshine. After he had eaten 
a portion of his bird, the significant nod by Charley was the 
signal for the Judge to interrogate Joe as to the quality. 

''Joe, how do you like the mud-hen?" 

"Well/' said Joe, "it tastes like tansy bitters with the 
bitters left out!" 

We finally prevailed upon him to discard the unsavory 
carcass, and join us in dispatching the fish and squirrels he 
had so neatly prepared and cooked for supper, which he did, 
after paying his respects to the demijohn, which he insisted 
was necessary after his attempt to eat the mud-hen. 

Supper over, we put out the lines for fish, and after the 
usual story-telling around the camp-fire, spread our blankets 
for sleep. When the others had retired, I sat upon a log and 
meditated upon the surrounding scenery. My memory floated 
back to the journal of Julius Rodman, which I had read when 
a boy, wherein that explorer described his ascent of the Mis- 
souri river at the close of the eighteenth century, in which 
he described the Nodaway, its beautiful scenery, grapes and 
wild fowl along its banks. I also remembered that at a later 
period Lewis and Clarke had passed up the river, moored 
their boats at the mouth of the Nodaway, and probably had 
spent a night in the same grove of ancient elms in which we 
were camped. My revery was suddenly interrupted by dis- 



48 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

tant thunder in the west, and on looking in that direction I 
beheld a dark storm-cloud rising slowly and majestically, 
gradually obscuring the light of the moon, while the far-away 
flashes of lightning denoted an approaching storm. I roused 
my comrades, and we hastily prepared a shelter by placing 
forks in the ground, with poles laid across, covered with brush, 
as a partial protection from the rain, which soon came down 
in torrents, and the lightning flashed among the trees, followed 
by heavy thunder. Our shelter proved a failure, as the rain 
penetrated through it, and we were obliged to roll up our 
blankets and cover them with a buffalo-robe. Joe, thinking 
the lightning might strike some of ^the trees beneath which 
we were sheltered, retired to a thicket of underbrush some 
rods distant, taking the demijohn with him. The storm lasted 
about an hour, and as it cleared away we replenished our fire 
with all the available combustible material at hand. 

Reader, if you have ever camped out during a thunder 
storm at night you can appreciate our situation at that time : 
fire nearly out; guns and ammunition, if not seriously dam- 
aged, certainly in bad condition; provisions moistened; 
blankets damp, and buffalo-robe soaked. 

As the storm rolled away to the eastward, leaving a clear, 
star-lit sky, with the moon disappearing behind the western 
hills, Joe emerged from the thicket, Charley and the Judge 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 49 

filled their pipes, and I replenished the fire with wood ; and 
we listened to the stories of the Judge until our blankets were 
dry, when we all retired to get a few hours' sleep. Sometime 
during the small hours of the night, Joe became restless, arose 
from his blanket and began to move about the camp, as 
though morning had dawned, and it was time to be cooking 
breakfast. His movements awakened the Judge, who evi- 
dently had been dreaming of Komeo and Juliet (he being the 
poet of the outfit), for he exclaimed : "Joe, wilt thou be up so 
soon? — 'tis not yet near day. 'Twas the night-owl, and not 
the mud-hen y that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear." 

"Confound the mud-hen!" said Joe; "I was looking for 
the demijohn." 

About sunrise, we were awakened by Charley, who was 
taking fish from the lines we had out during the night; and 
Joe soon prepared an excellent breakfast. 

All nature was joyous and brilliant after the storm. The 
freshness of the morning air, the flowers bright and beautiful, 
the light of the morning sun, and the perfume arising from 
the dewy verdure, as the mists cleared away over the tree- 
tops and lost themselves in the distant blue sky, gave us new 
energy after a night of doubtful prospects. 

Charley claimed the right to hunt with the Judge on that 
day, and insisted that I should assist Joe with the boat. That 



50 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

agreed upon, the Judge and Charley set out for the ponds and 
hills, and Joe and I embarked in the boat and rowed down 
stream, halting occasionally to set the net. 

About midday, having caught a number offish, we landed 
in an eddy just below the mouth of the Nodaway, at a sandy 
beach near the timber, with the view of preparing dinner. 
Joe conveyed the provisions and cooking utensils on shore, 
while I went to the timber to collect wood to make a fire. 
As I approached a fallen tree, I discovered a small rattle- 
snake coiled ready for attack. Thinking Joe would desire to 
see the snake, I called to him, telling him of my discovery. 
Joe, not hearing me distinctly, thought I was bitten by a 
snake, and in his haste to get the demijohn from the stern of 
the boat, upset or careened the craft, and the demijohn, falling 
into the water, was conveyed by the expanding waves to the 
current, and floated away, despite Joe's herculean efforts to 
secure it. Seeing Joe in the water, and his difficulty, I has- 
tened to his rescue. When I arrived on the scene, Joe, with 
wet garments, was standing on shore looking sorrowfully at 
the demijohn, as it was bobbing up and down, far away in the 
current of the Missouri river. "I don't care so much for the 
demijohn as for the contents," said Joe. Then recurring to 
the snake, he added, "Where did the snake bite you?" I 
could not refrain from laughing, but informed him that I was 



A DAY ON THE TARKIO. 61 

not bitten, and said that we were even, barring the difference 
between being mud-bound in the Tarkio and immersed in the 
Missouri. Joe replied with some frontier phrases and ludi- 
crous epithets. Charley and the Judge arrived, and added to 
the merriment at Joe^s expense; but he was sullen, and de- 
clared the day's sport at an end, whereupon Charley produced 
a flask from his game-sack, after which Joe prepared dinner. 

After dinner, on beholding our teamster on the Kansas 
shore, we prepared to cross the river. It was late in the 
afternoon when we arranged to start homeward. We esti- 
mated our profit and loss by the following inventory: 
Profit — Two days' genuine sport, a goodly amount of game 
and fish. Loss — Joe's demijohn. 

As we rode homeward, Charley smoked, the Judge quoted 
poetry and sang "Home, Sweet Home," while Joe moodily 
sat in the wagon, and at intervals indulged in some frontier 
expressions about the loss of his household treasure, vaguely 
intimating that I was the cause of the aforesaid loss. 

Such was life and a part of the amusements during the 
first settlement of Northern Kansas. Looking back through 
the dim vista of the past to those golden days, when the 
hardships of our frontier situation were ignored for a day's 
sport, I agree with the poet — 

"There's a feeling within us that loves to revert 
To the merry old times that are gone." 



CHAPTER 5. 

SAMP NODKINS. 

Where is the early settler of Northern Kansas who has 
not stood upon the desolate, gray sand-bar on the west bank 
of the Missouri river, opposite St. Joseph, in stormy weather, 
waiting for the return trip of the ferry-boat that plied be- 
tween the two shores, while teamsters sat upon their loads of 
grain, holding in check the restless horses, and foot passengers 
paced to and fro, whistling fugitive airs, that no sooner es- 
caped their shivering lips than they were borne away in faint 
echoes by the wind, to accompany the roaring of the current 
of the turbid river? The bleak wind from the north whirled 
the sand in eddying gusts or at obtuse angles the entire length 
of the bar, or penetrated, with a dismal sound, the thicket of 
straggling cottonwoods and willows that grew along the al- 
luvial bottom near the perpendicular, treacherous bank — 
huge portions of which at intervals fell with a splash into 
the water. 

As the wind increased in power and velocity, the miniature 

waves of the river increased in magnitude to surging, white- 

(52) 



SAMP NOD KINS. 53 

crested billows, creating a doubt as to whether the boat would 
make another trip in the next twelve hours. The patient, 
chilled pedestrians paced to and fro amid the drifting sand, 
while the muttering imprecations of the disgusted teamsters 
added to the feeling of disappointment in not being trans- 
ferred over the river to the busy streets of St. Joseph, in full 
view. 

On a bleak day in the latter part of April, 1860, I stood 
upon that sullen, gray bar, waiting for the return of the boat. 
The wind hurled the drifting sand in every conceivable direc- 
tion along the bar, and among the cotton woods and willows, 
blowing my hat off, or dallying in a rude, violent manner 
with the skirt of my threadbare coat, then passing onward 
among the bending cottonwoods and willows, blending a dis- 
consolate sound with the roar of the raging waters, that were 
rolling in billowy majesty, as if to defy the power of man; 
while the boat seemed to be stationary on the other shore, the 
pilot not daring to venture across the turbid and angry cur- 
rent with his frail craft. 

A number of immigrants had crossed and were waiting for 
the remainder of their party, who were on the other shore. 
They were from Indiana, on their way to Kansas, to settle on 
the frontier. There were several covered wagons loaded with 
every species of household fixture in use during that period, 



54 THE XORTHEEX TIER. 

includiug mildewed bedsteads, rickety chairs, rusty stoves, 
decayed wasbtubs, old-fashioned kettles, pots and pans, and 
a general stock of old trumpery that had decorated the cabins 
in the Hoosier State for a o-eneration. Although stracrirlinQ: 
blades of grass were issuing from the sandy soil and decayed 
leaves among the dwarfed willows, denoting spring-time, the 
chill April wind from the north caused a disagreeable flapping 
of the unfastened part of the wagon-sheets, and the purple 
circle visible about the quivering lips of the immigrants and 
their dust-covered faces denoted that their situation was un- 
comfortable. To add to their discomfort, a number of cows 
and calves, as thin in flesh as the seven lean kine in Joseph's 
dream, persisted in penetrating the thicket of willows, not- 
withstanding: the exertion of some small bovs and over-frrown 
girls, who had charge of them. 

I ascertained who was the leader of the outfit, from the 
authority he assumed and the commands he gave, which were 
implicitly obeyed; and as he is the subject of this chapter, I 
here append a brief description of him as he appeared among 
the immigrants on that bleak April day, twenty years ago. 

In height he was six-feet-six, more or less — possibly less. 
His forehead was low, from which his head retreated at an 
angle of forty-five degrees, terminating at a point about which 
the hair seemed to form a circular, bristle-like crrowth about 



SAMP NO I) KINS. 55 

a spot resembling a small whirlpool. His arms were of great 
length, with large hands and thick-jointed fingei*s in propor- 
tion. A scanty, cream-colored beard adorned his chin, with 
a few scattering volunteer productions along the side of his 
face at a convenient distance from his ponderous ears. His 
limbs seemed to be out of proportion to his body, which 
doubtless only appeared so from the fact that his blue jeans 
pants, either from shrinkage in length or a desire to dissolve 
partnership with his sun-tanned ankles, terminated midway 
between his knees and an enormous pair of cow-hide, snuff- 
colored shoes, that resembled a traveling tan-yard or migratory 
shoe-shop. He wore a red-ilanuel shirt, without any vest, 
over which was a blue-jeans coat, the dividing line of which 
between the skirt and body of the coat, as indicated by a zig- 
zag seam, two brass buttons and two large pockets, was mid- 
way between the point adopted by fashion and his shoulders, 
while the skirt was economically curtailed to a ridiculous de- 
gree of shortness, scarcely extending to that portion of his 
person that a fashionable coat-skirt is intended to obscure. 

He approached me, and with that inquisitive address pecu- 
liar to an immigrant on arriving in Kansas or on the western 
border at that time, made the following inquiry : "Do you live 
in this 'ere neck of woods?'' 

I replied that I did. 



56 THE XORTHEEX TIER. 

"Well, stranger, I am wagon-boss of this 'ere outfit of 
immigrants, and some of them want to go fur enough westin; 
Kansas to get Government land, without seeing Injins; but 
as for me, I have practiced law in Indiana, and I would like 
to settle near a county-seat, where I can open a farm and also- 
practice law." 

With a piercing, cunning expression on his godless coun- 
tenance, he inquired my name and what I "follered for a 
livin'.'' I gave him my name, and informed him that, hav- 
ing been admitted to the bar in one of the States, I had come 
West to grow up with the country; but since I had been in. 
Kansas, failing to get a practice sufficient to support me, I 
had engaged in chopping cord-wood for steamboats that raa 
up and down the Missouri. 

"Give me your hand, stranger!" said he, grasping my^ 
hand. "I am a member of the bar; and have chopped cord- 
wood in the beech-woods of Indiana, and have left my wood- 
chopping many a time to attend court." And thereupon he 
gave me an elaborate account of his forensic efforts at the bar 
— how he had vanquished Hendricks, Pettit, Morton and other 
gentlemen of legal ability in Indiana. By way of returning 
the compliment of his inquiring my name and occupation, I 
asked him his name, and he replied: "This 'ere outfit of im- 
migrants call me Samp Xodkins, and my name is Xodkins; 



SAMP XODKIXS. 57 

most every one in Indiaua knows the Nodkinses, leastways 
they ought to, for I have practiced law there, and my father 
was ajesticc of the peace." Whether his christian name was 
"Samp"' or a nick-name among the immigrants, or a con- 
traction of the word ^'Sampson,'' I did not then learn, but 
from the extraordinary power of his lungs manifested in his 
speeches to juries before justices of the peace, I concluded 
his christian name was Sampson, doubtless named in honor 
of the muscular hero who levied war against the Philistines^ 
I informed him that law books were scarce in Kansas, and 
expressed the desire that he would occasionally permit me to 
peruse his valuable law books that I supposed an old practi- 
tioner, as he claimed to be, had brought with him, should he 
conclude to settle in the county. He pointed to an old- 
fashioned lidless chest in his wagon, with the emphatic remark,. 
" There is all the law I rely on in my practice, and you are 
welcome to use it if I settle in this county.'' The books, or 
book, for there was but one, as I afterward learned, consisted 
of Blackford's Indiana Digest, old edition. '^But,'' said he, 

"who is your Judge?'' "Judge P ," I replied. "Judge 

P !" He's from Indiana, and I know him! And if 

he is the Judge of this deestrick, 1 will settle in this county.''^ 
I learned afterward that the only time he had ever seen Judge 
P was when the latter, while traveling the circuit as a 



58 TBE NORTHERN TIER. 

lawyer, had stopped for dinner once at the cabin of Samp's 
father, when Samp was a rustic youth. 

We separated, and Samp settled in the county, among the 
bluffs along the Missouri river. He was not idle, and by his 
colloquial power he induced the neighbors to believe that he 
was capable of managing all their legal affairs. Scarcely had 
his cabin been completed, when he was employed to procure 
a divorce for one of those temporary subjects of neglect in 
the then frontier society, irreverently called "grass widows,'^ 
whose husband, as she thought, had been unnecessarily de- 
layed on a freighting trip across the Plains. Without con- 
sulting the statutes of Kansas — the old "Compiled Laws'' — 
Samp had hastily and unwisely concluded that a divorce was 
as easily obtained in Kansas as in Indiana, and had written 
his petition on a large sheet of "foolscap" paper, evidently 
by candle-light in his cabin, as certain oily marks, ink-blots 
and other evidence of the stringency of the times appeared 
on the irregularly-folded document which he had filed, and 
€aused a summons to issue thereon against the defendant, who 
was then far away on the Plains, or at the mountains. In 
due time the sheriff returned the summons, indorsed, "The 
said defendant not found in my county." After causing the 
summons to issue, Samp had failed to pay any more attention 
to his case, supposing he could obtain judgment by default 



SA3IP NODKINS. 59 

for a divorce, in the same manner as in a civil action for 
debt, and his petition was not verified by the affidavit of the 
plaintiff. 

Meantime the defendant was traversing the sun-dried trail 
of the plains, or whiling away his lonely hours in solitude 
around the camp-fires in the mountains, and had as little 
knowledge of the suit pending against him as a Highland 
shepherd had of the bounty paid for wolf-scalps by a county 
court in Kansas; while the plaintiff was dispensing her smiles 
indiscriminately among her friends in the vicinity, relying 
upon the legal acumen and potent ability of Samp Nodkins 
to dissolve the union between her and her wayfaring hus- 
band, as the shortest route to a free, unmarried life. 

I attended court at the next session, to try an appealed 
oase from a justice's court, and, upon arriving at the court 
house, found Samp Nodkins seeking some one to introduce 
him to the Judge. Samp said, '^I think the Judge would 
know me, but I desire an introduction.'' It was a rule of 
€Ourt that an attorney holding a certificate of admission in 
another State could be enrolled to practice on motion; and 
upon stating that to Nodkins, he declared that he had for- 
gotten to bring his certificate with him (raising a doubt in 
my mind whether he ever had one). But he insisted that he 
had been admitted to the bar in the courts of Indiana. 



60 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

When court was called and announced to be in session, in 
the long-drawn-out common-law style, by the bailiff, I made 
a motion, by request, to have Mr. Nodkins enrolled or ad- 
mitted to practice, informing the court that the applicant had 
neglected to bring his certificate of admission by a court of 
competent jurisdiction of the State of Indiana (throwing in 
the name of the State by way of an extra inducement for the 
Judge to recognize Nodkins). The Judge looked over hi& 
glasses a moment at Samp, and then appointed a committee, 
myself among the number, to examine the candidate, stating 
that we could do so after adjournment of court for the day, 
and make our report when court convened the next morning. 
Samp cast a disappointed, imploring look, first at the Judge, 
and then at me; but the decree had gone forth, and it would 
have been at the risk of a fine for contempt to request a modi- 
fication of an order, when once made by Judge P . He 

was an excellent Judge, save in one respect — he was irritable, 
and severe in his reprimands of attorneys and officers of the 
court, when business did not run smoothly; the least inter- 
ruption or confusion in the court room or in the street was 
the signal for a severe reprimand of the bailiff for not pre- 
serving order. The incessant, violent winds that blew in 
those days (which have since been pensively described by 
journalists and travelers as "gentle zephyrs") annoyed the 



SA3IP NODKINS. 61 

Judge beyond eDdurance, and as his weight was a trifle less 
than three hundred pounds avoirdupois, in going from his 
hotel to the court house the wind seemed to circle around him, 
whirling the dust in his face, and banishing every expression 
of kindness from his stern and rigid countenance, as he or- 
dered court opened. He threatened to fine the bailiff for not 
keeping order, on hearing the croaking of a flock of wild 
geese flying over the court house, mistaking the noise they 
made for the hilarity of urchins about the court-house door. 
He abruptly adjourned a term of court because of the inability 
of the bailiff to stop the clattering of the window-sash in the 
court house on a windy day. Withal he was a sound lawyer, 
a just and upright judge, and when off the bench was a pleas- 
ant, social companion — a gentleman of the old school, pos- 
sessing rare colloquial powers. 

On the day the committee was appointed to examine Samp 
Nodkins, the criminal docket was called and the cases con- 
tinued, the county attorney not being ready to try them. The 
civil cases set for the first day were then called for default. 
As Samp's case was set for that day, he whispered to me to 
attend to his case, and take judgment for a divorce by default. 
Supposing that Samp had caused the proper service to be had 
upon the defendant, and had evidence of the marriage and 
desertion, and suflScient evidence to prove the averments in 



62 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

his petition, I called for the papers, with a view of reading 
the petition to the court, and then producing the evidence. 
The petition was a remarkable document in length and 
breadth, and resembled a large sheet of white wrapping-paper 
that had inclosed several pounds of butter from a grocery- 
store. I read it through with some difficulty, and then re- 
quested of Samp the names of his witnesses. He replied 
that he had no witnesses ! 

"What is the service upon the defendant?" inquired the 
Judge. I was about to examine the papers to ascertain, when 
Samp replied that " the return of the sheriff showed that the 
defendant was not found in the county." I moved for con- 
tinuance for service. Samp sprang to his feet, and demanded 
judgment by default. The Judge replied that no such 
judgment could be rendered. Samp continued with his ear- 
deafening voice. The Judge ordered him to take his seat, or 
he would fine him for contempt. Samp persisted, and was 
preparing to read from his Indiana Digest. "Take your 
seat, sir ! " said the Judge. " Mr. Bailiff, preserve order ! " 
"Order in the court room!" cried the bailiff. "I fine you 
for contempt," said the Judge to Samp. I endeavored to in- 
duce Samp to take his seat, which movement the Judge mis- 
took as encouraging him to proceed, and with a scowling, 
withering look at me threatened to fine me as the author and 



SAMP NOD KINS. 63 

cause of the trouble; and as I had no money with which to 
pay a fine, and could no longer repress my smothered laughter 
at the ridiculous situation, just as the Judge ordered the 
bailiff to arrest Samp I dashed out of the court room, 
mounted my horse and rode swiftly away, to engage in the 
rustic exercise of chopping cord-wood. 

I learned afterward that Samp's fine was remitted, owing 
to his inability to pay it, but he never forgave me for desert- 
ing him, not only in the divorce case, but for not meeting 
with the committee appointed to examine him for admission 
to the bar. He was admitted to practice, however, by what 
means I never knew. 

Samp was a staunch Republican in politics, and did yeoman 
service in the glee club, in the campaign of 1860. His voice, 
trained on the highest key by practice at camp-meetings in 
Indiana, when accompanied with a practical demonstration 

of Sam. D 's musical talents in singing the parody on the 

old hymn, "Where now is our good old Daniel?" by which 
the Democratic party was musically consigned on a voyage 
to that mythical region known in Western political parlance 
as "Up Salt river" — 'twas music that awakened the hills and 
valleys from their solitude at night; while their stirring 
vocal music reminded one of an old-time revival at a camp- 
meeting, barring the difference in sentiment between the pious 



64 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

language of the original hymn and the parody composed for 
the occasion. 

That was a memorable campaign, and well do I remember 
the first meeting which transpired at White Cloud. After 
the speeches by the candidates, and the hilarious entertain- 
ment at ^^ Liberty Hall^^ by its hospitable occupants, near 
midnight we assembled in front of the hotel. The moon had 
descended behind the grand old hill overlooking the village; 
eastward stretched the winding, sedgy valley of the Missouri 
river, bordered by the tall cottonwoods, the gray branches of 
which were brightened by the fading moonlight, and the 
song commenced. When the chorus was reached, the voice 
of Samp Nodkins, higher than the others, could be heard far 
up and down the valley, starting the wild fowls from the 
marshy pools of "Rush Bottom," while the dusky, belated 
travelers to their huts on the Reserve, mistook the echo for 
the voice of the "Great Spirit," or their departed chief, 
whose memory was embalmed in the name of the town, call- 
ing them to the happy hunting-ground. 

Those were not only halcyon days, but halcyon nights, 
when that old song rang out clear on the midnight air all 
along the river border, at the base of the traditional promon- 
tory at Iowa Point, among the cottonwood shanties of Charles- 
ton and Columbus, and beneath the shadow of the stately 



SA3IP NODKINS. 65 

•elms that stretched their huge branches over Main street, in 
El wood. 

The end of the campaign was a victory for the Republican 
party. But the comrades and companions of those early 
times are separated. Samp Nodkins and others have gone 
from earth to " that undiscovered country from whose bourne 
no traveler returns." One is doing duty in a foreign coun- 
try, and others still remain in the county, as if loth to leave 
the land of their adoption and first settlement in the troublous 
times of the Territorial days. Among the latter is the pioneer 
editor whose weekly paper still notifies his old companions and 
friends of his whereabouts. 

"Still o'er those scenes my memory wakes, 

And fondly broods with wiser care; 
Time but the impression deeper makes, 

As streams their channels deeper wear." 
5 



CHAPTER 6. 

NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 

I am not an ornithologist, but this book would be incom- 
plete without a brief description of the game-birds and some 
of the feathered songsters of Northern Kansas. 

First is the wild-turkey, that noble American bird, which 
Franklin desired to adopt as an emblem on the^flag. This 
bird is truly American, being first discovered in his native 
forest on this continent. From the shores of the great lakes 
of the north to the last cane-brakes of the south, and from 
the head-waters of the Hudson to the foot-hills of the Rocky 
Mountains, wherever a grove of timber skirted a ridge or 
bordered a stream, this native bird found a dwelling-place, 
long before Captain Smith explored the James river or the 
Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock. His gobble in the deep 
wilderness guided the stealthy Indian to his retreat, and for 
more than a century has caused the frontier settlers to smile, 
when the supply of game was diminishing in their cabins. 
"While this bird's domestic barn-yard relatives have formed 

the basis of Thanksgiving dinners for more than a century 

(66) 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS, 67 

in New England and elsewhere, the native wild-turkeys have 
occupied a conspicuous position on the rustic, home-made 
tables in the rude cabins on the Western frontier, around 
which gathered the family, relatives and friends. 

Occasionally a Yankee whose perseverance had induced 
him to immigrate to the frontier for the purpose of securing 
land for his children, still clinging to the traditional custom 
of his juvenile home in New England, on Thanksgiving day 
assembled his relatives to feast on a native gobbler he had 
succeeded in bringing down with his rifle, in the forest or 
about his remote corn-field, for the occasion. The blessing 
he invoked upon his household and relatives, and the thanks 
he returned for the bountiful repast, as they assembled around 
that rustic table in the primitive cabin or dug-out, was as 
piously and reverently announced and gratefully uttered as 
the thanks he had heard around the tastefully decorated festal 
boards in his ancestral home in the East. 

"When Northern Kansas was first settled, the heavily- 
timbered and woodland bluffs bordering on the Missouri 
river, and the timber along the streams in the interior, 
abounded with wild-turkeys. During the spring and sum- 
mer they remained in the dense forest and thickets, and in 
early autumn visited the wheat-stubble and oat-fields, and as 
winter approached they often appeared in large numbers, as 



68 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

if on a foraging expedition, in the remote corn-fields. Tlien 
followed rare sport for the hunters among the settlers, besides 
supplying the table with delicious game. To bring down a 
wild-turkey from his perch on the highest tree, or with shot 
while on the wing, was a feat of no ordinary marksmanship. 

During the spring and autumn the wild-geese and brant 
stopped for a month or more, during their migration north 
or south, alighting in the fields by day to feed on the green 
wheat, and remained about the sand-bars and eddies of the 
Missouri at night. As they flew to and fro they were an ex- 
cellent target for an expert at shooting on the wing, and 
many a noble gander has disarranged and demoralized the 
triangular flight of the flock by an involuntary tumble to 
the earth from a well-directed shot of the sportsman. 

Wild ducks in great numbers were migratory companions 
of the geese, with the exception that the ducks usually re- 
mained longer in the spring, after the geese went north, fre- 
quenting small streams, ponds and lakes. 

There are several species of wild ducks in Northern Kan- 
sas. The mallard resembles the domestic or barn-yard duck. 
The male mallard has a green head, and very much resembles 
the barn-yard drake. The female is of a yellowish-brown 
color, with spots or bars, like the female of the domestic duck. 
They breed in limited numbers in Northern and Western 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 69 

Kansas, but a very large majority of them go to the far north 
late in the spring, returning in September, and remaining un- 
til the streams are frozen, when they continue their flight to 
the southward. 

The canvas-back ducks are less numerous in Northern 
and Western Kansas than the mallards, but are fine game 
birds. I have seen a number of them about Lake Sibley 
and the salt marshes in Cloud and Jewell counties. 

The widgeon is frequently found along the small streams 
and about Lake Sibley and the salt marshes. 

The pin-tail ducks are abundant in the spring, usually 
associating with the mallards. 

But the most delicious ducks for the table, though small, 
are the blue-and-green-winged teals, which are abundant in 
Northern and Western Kansas. 

The wood ducks are found along the Missouri river and 
streams that are bordered with timber. They are beautiful 
birds, crested, with purplish-green heads. They differ from 
other ducks in their habits, building their nests in hollow 
trees, and rarely mingle with other ducks, save with the teals. 

A brace of ducks was a trophy of no small value in the 
game-bag of the weary sportsman, during the early settle- 
ment of Northern Kansas. 

The noblest bird of the prairie is the pinnated grouse, or 



70 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

prairie chicken. It is a larger bird than the ruffed grouse 
of the Middle States, and its flesh is darker. The color of 
the pinnated grouse is light brown, with dark brown spots 
on the back and uniform bars on the breast. The males have 
a bunch of dark feathers on the front part of the neck ; and 
a yellow or orange-colored sack on each side of the neck, 
which they have the power of inflating; and in the spring, 
during the mating season, they assemble on some bare spot of 
ground, making a thrumming noise with their wings that 
can be heard at a considerable distance. Their nests are 
usually made in the prairie-grass, containing from twelve to 
fifteen eggs, of a light color, with small spots of a darker 
hue. In Northern Kansas they hatch in May, and if the 
season is favorable the young birds are two-thirds grown by 
the first of August, when the proper shooting season begins. 
The young remain in the original covey, unless misfortune 
befalls them, until late in autumn, and when flushed will 
scatter in different directions, alighting at no great distance, 
when they can be flushed by a dog separately, by which means 
the sportsman can secure the whole covey, permitting the 
parent bird to fly away and mourn for her lost brood in 
lonely solitude. 

Grouse-shooting on the prairie is rare sport. The best 
plan is for two or more sportsmen to procure a light wagon, 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 71 

-with a competent driver, and drive over the prairie, letting 
the dogs range far and wide to the right and left of the team. 
A well -trained dog will range at the proper distance, and 
when he scents a covey of birds will stop suddenly, with a 
peculiar stationary attitude, and generally one fore-foot raised 
from the ground, and no confusion or noise will disturb his 
motionless position, save the voice of his master, as he ap- 
proaches and urges the dog forward to flush the birds. If 
the birds are not easily flushed, the faithful animal moves 
forward cautiously in the direction of the covey until they 
arise, and then the sportsmen take their shots; but the dog 
remains motionless until bidden by his master to move for- 
ward, or " Find dead birds. ^^ If the covey is all flushed, the 
birds generally alight at different points, and can then be 
flushed separately. 

In autumn, when the birds have attained full-grown size, 
flocks embracing several coveys congregate about the stubble- 
fields, and pillage the corn-fields, or on and about the green 
wheat-fields ; during which season they are wild and watch- 
ful, and rarely ever lie close for a dog, but most frequently 
rise and sail away in their freedom before the sportsman is 
near enough to bring them down, unless he risks a long shot. 
The gun must be charged with larger shot as the birds be- 



72 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

come full grown. Occasionally during the Indian-summer 
days, an old bird, in tall grass, will lie close for a dog, when 
suddenly he rises, often near the sportsman, and with a quick 
movement flies away toward an adjacent ridge, uttering his 
defiant ^^cluk-cluk-cluk," but it requires a good shot to bring 
him down. As the season advances and the weather becomes 
cold, in the early morning they are often seen in large num~ 
bers upon the branches of the trees along the creeks and 
ravines, apparently enjoying the morning sunshine. 

When traveling over the extensive prairies of Northern 
Kansas, with nothing to disturb the monotony of the scene, 
the occasional flushing of a pinnated grouse causes a transient 
thrill of pleasure; and as he sails away in his free flight,, 
reminds one of Hogg's lines — 

"Bird of the wilderness, 1 

Blithesome and cumberless, 

Gay be thy matin o'er moorland and lea! 
Emblem of happiness, 
Blest be thy dwelling-place — 

Oh, to abide in the desert with thee." 

The sharp -tail grouse resembles the pinnated grouse in- 
size, but its color is lighter, and it has no gular sack on the 
neck. It is feathered to the first joint of the toes, while the 
pinnated grouse is feathered only to the toes. The habits of 
the sharp-tail grouse are the same as the pinnated grouse — 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 73< 

making their home on the prairie, feeding on the same food,, 
and though not so numerous, are often found with the pin- 
nated grouse. 

The quail of Kansas is too well known to require a minute 
description. From the Missouri river to the extreme western 
settlements in Northern Kansas, quails are found in great 
numbers in the groves of timber and about the stock-yards 
and fields. If not disturbed or frightened, they will come 
near the dwelling house, and are often seen in the barn-yard,, 
picking up the scattered grain. During the hatching season 
the male bird is often seen perched upon a fence post or wheat 
shock, whiling away his lonely hours, at short intervals pip- 
ing forth his familiar ''Bob White ! ^' regardless of the rattling 
and clattering noise of the reaper driven by the farmer in an 
adjoining field. The young birds are generally full grown- 
by the first of October, when quail-shooting begins by per- 
mission of the laws of the State. 

As a general rule, a dog well trained for setting and flush- 
ing grouse, is good for flushing quail. There are exceptions,, 
however, and a dog that has been trained principally for 
quail-flushing, is not at all times an expert at grouse-flushing. 
Some sportsmen prefer quail to grouse-shooting; but owing 
to the activity of the flight of the quail, it requires a better 
and quicker shot to bring it down than a shot at grouse, a& 



74 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

the chance is often taken through brush or timber. New- 
beginners and inexperienced sportsmen generally prefer 
grouse -shooting. 

It is grand sport to flush a covey of quails in the timber, 
causing them to alight in the prairie, and then flush them 
separately with a careful dog, and bring them down sharp 
before they reach the timber. Let two or more genial, social 
sportsmen, on a mild October day, bag a number of quails, 
spread their luncheon in a grove, build a fire, and each broil 
a couple of birds on forked sticks at the fire, and they have 
a dinner that duplicates a meal at the most fashionable res- 
taurant. The guns leaning against a tree, the dogs bathing 
in a stream near by, the landscape and surrounding scenery, 
the healthful breeze, the lunch in the woods, the story, joke 
and hilarity — all combined, make it an occasion of real en- 
joyment long to be remembered by the participants. No 
true sportsman will ever net a quail or trap a grouse. A 
sportsman never shoots grouse or quail for market, and 
rarely shoots more birds than he desires for his own table and 
as a gift to his non-sporting friends. As a general rule, in 
Northern Kansas, more quail are annually destroyed by net- 
ting and trapping for market than by all the sportsmen, 
who procure their birds by wing -shooting for the love of 
the sport. 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 75 

Another game bird of the prairie in Northern Kansas is 
the curlew, a species of upland snipe or plover, smaller than 
the grouse, of a snuff color, with long legs, and a bill from 
four to six inches in length, with long wings. They are 
generally found in flocks or coveys on the upland prairie, in 
the spring, on newly -burnt prairie, or where the grass is 
short. I have seen them in pairs. Being wild and watch- 
ful, they cannot be flushed by a dog, and the only successful 
manner of shooting is to drive a wagon until opposite the 
flock, or by the solitary hunter in a seemingly careless man- 
ner approaching on foot in a diagonal direction, and as the 
birds arise risking a long shot to bring one down, the others 
flying to an adjacent ridge with a shrill-screaming whistle. 
It is a feat to bag a brace of these birds out of a flock. Their 
flesh is of delicate flavor, of a lighter color than that of the 
grouse. 

The plover is a small bird, with long bill and a body 
formed like the curlew, but much smaller, with white breast 
interspersed with small spots, and a dark-gray color on the 
back and upper surface of the wings. It is the smallest of 
the game birds of the prairie, but its flesh is delicious. In 
the spring they appear in large numbers, and frequent ground 
that has recently been burned over, along the roadside, and in 
the short grass. In the early spring their long-drawn-out 



76 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

whistle is heard over the prairie, denoting that the warm 
spring days have come. They fly rather swiftly, and whea 
they alight, after touching the ground, make a peculiar bow- 
like motion with their wings. A sportsman can approach 
within a few yards of them before they arise, and as they fly 
away are an excellent target for wing-shooting. They are 
migratory, going south in autumn and returning again in 
the spring. Their flesh is as delicious as the quail, but true 
sportsmen in Northern Kansas generally ignore them on ac- 
count of their small size ; and it is well, as they should be 
permitted to multiply as destroyers of grasshoppers and other 
insects, thereby aiding the farmer, for they feed largely on 
those pests. 

The feathered songsters of Northern Kansas are numerous. 
The lark is the harbinger of spring and warm weather. A& 
the bright, warm spring days appear, his melodious notes are 
heard at early dawn on the prairie and about the farm ; and 
frequently he perches upon the garden gate or housetop, and 
sends forth his morning song to awaken the drowsy land- 
scape and the inmates of the dwelling. They remain during 
the summer, hatch and care for their young, make war on 
the insects, go south in the autumn, and return again in the 
following spring. 

I have not yet seen many robins west of the Blue river 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 77 

and its tributaries, but they are numerous in Northeastern 
Kansas along the timbered streams, and about the orchards 
and groves surrounding the farm houses. It is a pleasure to 
have them about the orchards and groves, building their 
nests, rearing their young, and flitting among the branches 
or hopping along on the ground in search of insects. A 
farmer can well afford to permit them to carry away all the 
cherries and fruit they desire, for their company, and as a 
partial recompense for the insects they destroy. 

The jay, next to the hanging-bird or Kansas goldfinch, 
has the brightest plumage of the small birds of Northern 
Kansas. It is of the same size and color of the jay of the 
Middle States. They are numerous among the timber along 
the streams or groves about the farms. They are not migra- 
tory, but remain during winter. They feed on berries, seeds 
and grain in the fields during summer, and in the winter 
pillage corn-cribs and granaries. They are rather destructive 
and warlike, and I have often seen them waging war on other 
birds, and even giving battle to large hawks when they in- 
vaded the grove inhabited by the jays. The jay is a beautiful, 
strongly-formed bird, but not a pleasant singer; his notes are 
harsh, with a constant chatter when danger is near. 

The redbird is a winter bird, remaining in this latitude 
during winter. The male is of a bright-red color, crested, 



78 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

with red beak; the female a pale red, or light-brown color. 
They inhabit the timber along the streams in Northern Kan- 
sas as far west as the Little Blue river and its tributaries. 
They remain in the woods during summer, and in winter, 
when the snow covers the ground, they are often discovered 
purloining corn from the crib, when they can be caught in 
traps for caging. They make a beautiful household pet when 
sufficiently tamed to become accustomed to the cage, and on 
rainy days, the gloomiest of the year, when outdoor scenes 
are not inviting, the lively notes of the redbird sent forth 
from his cage in the hall — translated as follows : " Wet year ! '' 
"wet year !'^ "wet!^^ "wet!'' — serve to revive the drooping 
spirits and banish melancholy reflections. 

The hanging-bird, a species of goldfinch, is an inhabitant 
of Northern Kansas. It is called the hanging-bird from the 
singular description of its nest, which is composed of moss 
and fibrous material, suspended from a twig by two threads 
or fibers ingeniously attached to the twig or branch. The 
male bird is of a brilliant-red color, with black wings; the 
female is light-brown, with gold-colored wings. They are 
beautiful birds, and tolerable singers. They flit among the 
leaves and branches in search of insects, while they continue 
their chattering as if in conversation with each other. They 
often pay a hasty visit to the shade trees about the farm 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 79 

house, and if cherries or other berries are in the vicinity, they 
carry away a few as a partial compensation for the exhibition 
of their beautiful plumage among the farmer's shade trees 
and shrubbery. Anyone who admires birds, appreciates the 
daily visits of the hanging-birds. 

During the spring and summer, blackbirds appear in large 
flocks on the prairies and about the farms. In the spring of 
1877, when the grasshoppers had hatched in great numbers, 
on a lovely Sunday morning, early in May, I was awakened 
at early dawn by a confusion of sounds, and on going into 
the yard, I beheld countless numbers of blackbirds on the 
ground, devouring the young grasshoppers. The alleys and 
vacant lots of the town (Concordia) seemed to be one living 
mass of birds. I approached very near them, and observed 
them closely. There was no doubt of the fact that they were 
breakfasting on young grasshoppers. On the succeeding 
morning they again made their appearance as numerous as 
before, and remained some two hours. The grasshoppers 
disappeared about that time, and not enough arrived at ma- 
turity to do any serious damage to the crops. Some attribute 
their decay and destruction to the wet, damp weather, and 
heavy rains that prevailed about that time. I am confident, 
however, that the most destructive agency was the black- 
birds; and I am of the opinion that in Northwestern Kansas, 



80 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

in the spring of 1877, more young grasshoppers were de- 
stroyed by the blackbirds, larks and plovers than by any 
other one cause. The male blackbird has a beautiful orange 
color on his wings, noticeably visible when he is flying. 

There are many other small birds in Northern Kansas, too 
numerous to mention, that sing sweetly — particularly the 
little prairie sparrow, that is so often seen perched upon the 
top of a sunflower or other wild weed of the prairie, sending 
forth his musical notes. 

The birds that should be appreciated more than they are 
in Northern Kansas, are the little snow-birds of winter. 
Whenever a cold snow-storm is imminent, the little snow- 
birds suddenly appear in vast numbers, flying about or hop- 
ping along on the ground, in the road, street, or about the 
barn-yard. They only appear in the coldest weather, or 
when snow covers the ground. I have often wondered what 
protected their little feet from the extreme cold, unless it be 
the texture of which they are composed by nature for that 
purpose. They are very tame, and will hop along only a 
few feet from a person walking. They disappear when win- 
ter is past, and they must go far north to the cold regions 
during summer, as they reappear each winter with the cold 
weather. They are pleasant and welcome visitors about the 
barn-yards, streets and commons when the summer birds are 



NORTHERN KANSAS BIRDS. 81 

gone, and the bleak winds of winter cause the brown prairie 
to look like a cheerless, dreary waste. 

There are over two hundred different species of birds in 
Kansas, many of them useful as insect destroyers. What 
would the isolated groves of Northern Kansas be without 
birds? Gloomy haunts, with nothing to disturb the melan- 
choly silence save the sighing of the wind among the 
branches. 

6 



CHAPTER 7. 

THE KEPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 

The act of Congress establishing the Republican Land 
District in the State of Kansas, was approved July 7, 1870; 
the boundary of which district included all the territory be- 
tween the east line of range 8, east, and the western boundary 
of the State, and between the Nebraska line and the township 
line dividing townships ten and eleven. Immigrants had 
crossed the Big Blue river in great numbers, and the coun- 
ties of Washington, Republic and Cloud were being rapidly 
settled; and in order to provide a land office more convenient 
to the settlers than the one at Junction City, at the mouth 
of the Republican river, the new land district was created. 
The land office for the new district was established in Sep- 
tember, 1870, at Concordia, the county seat of Cloud county, 
a village consisting of three small cabins, situated on the 
south bank of the Republican river, on section 33, town- 
ship 5, range 3, west. 

A clever writer has said, "There is something very fasci- 
nating in public office.^' There may be, but I have failed to 

(82) 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 83 

discover it. It is a species of servitude in which the honor 
is neutralized by a constant fear lest the occupant will receive 
a reprimand for every error committed, if not an absolute 
dismissal from his position. The unstable tenure of office 
under the infallible rule in American politics, that rotation 
in office is the legitimate custom in every political campaign, 
together with the intrigues of the "outs'^ to displace the 
"ins'' — especially those "outs" who imagine they have been 
ingloriously "left'' by an ungrateful republic — requires the 
utmost vigilance on the part of an officer to maintain friendly 
relations with those who possess the power and influence to 
cause removal and dismissal at any time. 

The same writer says : "An honorable ambition to serve 
one's country is one of the highest and most ennobling pas- 
sions that can govern the human mind." In the civil ser- 
vice, I doubt if that type of ambition was ever the controlling 
influence that prompted an individual, however honest and 
trustworthy, to accept a subordinate position in the civil de- 
partment of the Government. Abolish the fees and salaries, 
and the subordinate offices would be declined and deserted. 
In the military department there are exceptions. In that 
department there are many, in time of war, who serve their 
country at the peril of life, with no other motive than an 
honorable ambition to serve faithfully and win distinction — 



84 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

true exponents of the " noblest passions that can govern the 
human mind." 

In addition to the emoluments of a civil office, there is 
doubtless another influence that ministers to the ambition of 
subordinate Federal office-holders — a fancy or suspicion that 
they are regardecl by their neighbors and friends as superior 
in intellect and judgment, possessing a prophetic insight into 
the most profound subjects, and entitled to a goodly portion 
of the hero-worship that pervades all classes of society. 

It was not the seductive influence of official position, nor 
a high-toned ambition to serve my country, but the potential 
charm of a lucrative salary, coupled with a desire to enjoy 
life for a time among the homestead settlers on the frontier, 
and to assist in the development of a neglected portion of the 
State, that induced me, in August, 1870, to accept the posi- 
tion of Receiver of the land office subsequently located at 
Concordia. 

In addition to the preemption law of 1841, the homestead 
law of May 20, 1862, with amendments, had been in force 
several years, and had proved a success in settling up the 
frontier with actual, bona fide settlers. The law required 
settlement, residence, and cultivation, thus preventing specu- 
lators from acquiring title to large tracts of land. One of 
the noblest acts of the then fully dominant party, was the 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 85 

enactment of the homestead law, by which a settler, for the 
sum of eighteen dollars, with five years' residence on and 
cultivation of a tract, could acquire title to a quarter-section 
of land. A number of families were enabled to secure homes 
in one vicinity, and thereby could support schools and churches, 
and establish the various social relations. 

The hardships and vicissitudes of the settlers were often 
greater than the people of the Eastern States imagined. It 
was natural for those in the thickly-settled New England 
and Middle States, surrounded with facilities for comfort and 
luxury, to imagine that a homestead-settler, by procuring a 
quarter-section of land for a mere nominal sum, in the midst 
of an extensive prairie, surrounded with nature's embellish- 
ments, was a fortunate being, who with a few days' labor 
could convert his new possession into a garden of beauty and 
fields of plenty. Hence the landless in those States were in- 
duced to make the trial by the gratuitous advice of friends, 
and elaborate articles in newspapers, culminating in the mem- 
orable words of an eminent journalist — "Go West!" After 
careful observation, together with practical experience, I have 
no hesitancy in asserting that the man who takes his family 
to the frontier, and with them resides five years on a home- 
stead, and fulfills the requirements of the law as to cultiva- 
tion and improvements, pays a valuable consideration for the 



8Q THE NORTHERN TIER. 

land. The men and women who compose the homestead set- 
tlers on the frontier deserve the approbation and charitable 
sympathy, not only of those who conduct the Gov^ernment, 
but of the entire people of the older States. To them the 
nation is indebted for the rapid advancement of civilization 
westward into the wild waste, and the development of the 
nation's domain of uncultivated prairies, capable of yielding 
vast returns of wealth in time of peace, and power in times 
of public danger. 

It became necessary to the welfare of the nation that the 
Indians and buffalo should be driven westward and the coun- 
try developed, in order to secure homes for the immigrants 
from Europe, induced to seek our shore by the liberal pro- 
vision of our free government; and the homestead law has 
proved a success to the satisfaction of its framers, in causing 
the prairies to be checkered with school houses and churches, 
while agricultural pursuits have rapidly changed the face of 
the country into cultivated fields and homelike landscapes. 

The land office having been established at Concordia, it 
became necessary to have a building erected for its accommo- 
dation. At the close of the September term of court in Troy, 
in 1870, armed with my official papers as Receiver, I shook 
the dust of Troy from my feet, bade adieu to my friends, with 
a sigh of regret at parting with the members of the Northern 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 87 

Kansas bar, with whom I had been so long associated, and 
started westward to a new field of labor on the frontier. My 
starting seemed unpropitious. Soon after the train left Atchi- 
son a violent rain storm set in, and after I arrived at Water- 
ville, the then terminus of the road, the rain continued to 
pour down in torrents the entire night. The small streams 
rose rapidly, and Coon creek seemed little less than a foam- 
ing cataract. The rain would cease for a brief period, seem- 
ingly only to renew its fury after the interval. There was 
no public conveyance from Waterville west. My only de- 
pendence was to secure some kind of private conveyance; and 
after repeated trials I succeeded in inducing a party to take 
me to Clyde, on the Republican river, by paying him a suffi- 
cient sum to have secured a passage in a steamship across the 
Atlantic. The vehicle was an old-fashioned farm wagon, 
that looked as though it might have been used in the last 
century, drawn by a pair of small ponies, whose lack of flesh 
and emaciated condition denoted that they had been fed at 
least once a week. The roads were in the worst possible con- 
dition, with the mud averaging from six to ten inches deep, 
of the consistency and tenacity of shoemakers' wax. Out of 
compassion for the ponies I walked more than half the way, 
and with at least five pounds of mud clinging to each boot, 



88 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

I trudged wearily along, my gait resembling that of a con- 
vict wearing a ball and chain. 

A commercial traveler, selling "Fairbanks's scales," was 
my traveling companion, going to Clyde in the interest of 
his employers. His conversation was frequently interrupted 
by his sudden exclamations about the mud, accompanied with 
expressive adjectives of questionable morality, to be succeeded 
by sundry stanzas of some fugitive old song of by-gone days^ 
such as — 

"Now summer blinks on flowery braes, 
And o'er the crystal streamlet plays, 
Come let us spend the lightsome days 
In the Birks of Aberfeldy." 

Near the close of the day we reached Peach creek, twenty- 
four miles from Waterville, where one of the ponies became 
so exhausted that we were obliged to remain over night with 
a hospitable settler. 

The next day was a repetition of the previous one, with 
the addition of a rain during the night to increase the depth 
of the mud, and add to our discomfort in traveling. With 
numerous halts to pry the wagon-wheels out of the mud, late 
in the afternoon we arrived at Clyde. At that place I met 
two acquaintances — one a State Senator, the other the editor 
of the Republican Valley Empire, the only newspaper pub- 
lished in the Republican valley above Junction City. 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 8^ 

After a friendly greeting and social introductions, my 
friends procured another team, and a number of the citizens 
of Clyde accompanied me to Concordia. It was arranged 
that we should go as far as Sibley that evening, spend the 
night there, and cross the river to Concordia the next morn- 
ing. Among the number was Judge B , a lawyer, whose 

weight (avoirdupois) was a trifle less than three hundred 
pounds. Whole-souled, humorous, benevolent and kind^ 
with a never-ending fund of anecdotes, he was one of the 
liveliest and most genial traveling companions I had met 
in the West. His wit and anecdotes, being inexhaustible^ 
revived my drooping spirits, and dispelled the gloomy fore- 
bodings augmented by my trip from Waterville to Clyde- 
Near sunset we arrived at Salt creek, and found the bridge 
washed out, and a plank laid across the stream for foot- 
passengers. 

The glories of a Kansas autumn day were about to be 
enveloped with the mantle of twilight; the sun was disap- 
pearing beyond the western plains, flooding them with its 
golden beauty, until the commingling of emerald and sapphire 
dazzled the eye with its beauty; the rippling waters of Salt 
creek glittered and sparkled as the last lingering rays of the 
sun fell upon them, and they flowed onward to mingle with 
the current of the Republican. 



90 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

The only way to cross the stream was to lead the horses 
across on the plank, in single file, and separate the compo- 
nent parts of the wagon, convey the several parts across, and 
put them together on the other shore. It was a difficult 
task, but rendered less discouraging by the wit and rollicking 
humor of the Judge. 

In due time we arrived at Sibley, where we were enter- 
tained with that genuine hospitality that is the prominent 
trait in every household among the homestead settlers on the 
frontier. Early on the following morning we made prepar- 
ations to cross the Republican river, to the town site of 
Concordia. The river was high — in places overflowing its 
banks — and the raging flood bore on its surface a large 
amount of drift-wood, and portions of trees were plunging 
onward in the swift current. The only means of crossing 
was an old skifi^, the owner of which would permit but one 
of us to enter and cross with him each trip. It seemed a 
dangerous voyage, even in that manner. After a brief con- 
sultation it was decided that the Judge should make the first 
trip across in the skiff, and if the craft did not sink with him 
in it, it would be safe for the others. It was agreed that 
when the skiff had passed beyond the main current, if the 
Judge considered it safe for either of us to attempt to cross, 
he was to give us a signal by waving his hat. He sat calmly 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 91 

in the craft until it passed the middle of the river, when he 
waved his hat in triumph, and sang the well-known lines of 
the beautiful song — 

"A life on the ocean wave, 
And a home on the rolling deep." 

In due time we were all safely transferred across the river. 

Upon announcing that the land office was permanently 
located at Concordia, the members of the town company be- 
came enthusiastic; selections for building sites were in order, 
and the excitement increased as the prospect of seeing their 
beautiful town site occupied by dwellings and business houses 
in the near future grew brighter. Preparation was immedi- 
ately made for the erection of a building for the land office. 
At that time there were only three small cabins on the town 
site, the land -office building, when completed, being the 
fourth; but as notice had to be given of the opening of the 
office for business, it was not opened until the sixteenth of 
January, 1871. 

A custom that prevailed on the frontier at that time was 
that, upon the completion of any building, either for a busi- 
ness house or residence, it must be dedicated with a dancing- 
party, at which the young and middle-aged, married and 
single, among the settlers, participated with that social 
hilarity characteristic of frontier life. Upon^the completion 



92 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

of the land-office building, it was resolved by the young peo- 
ple and the members of the town company to have a dancing- 
party in the building, and invitations to attend were sent to 
the settlers in the surrounding country. As time had dragged 
heavily while waiting for the appointed time to open the office 
for business, I attended the party. To all the invitations by 
the gentlemen to join in the dance I refused, and protested 
that I could not dance. I saw a consultation among the 
ladies, but I little suspected that a playful conspiracy wa& 
being arranged, of which I was to be the victim, until it was 
announced by the floor manager that the next dance would 
be a quadrille, and the ladies would choose their partners. 
A lady politely requested me to join her in dancing the quad- 
rille. What could I do? With no experience at dancing, it 
seemed impossible to comply with her request, and it would 
have been impolite to decline it. In the midst of my con- 
fusion the lady politely and pleasantly informed me that it 
was the desire of those present that I should join in the 
dance, and the mischievous smile that embellished her coun- 
tenance banished my indecision, and we sought our position 
among the dancers forming for the quadrille. 

Reader, did you ever dance? If so, and you remember 
your first attempt, you can appreciate my situation as I stood 
there waiting for the music and the prompter to announce. 



REPUBLICAN LAND DISTRICT. 93 

*^A11 to places!'^ aware that I should commit sad mistakes, 
and doubtless sadly mar the pleasure of others. Think of a 
man wearing number ten mud boots going gracefully through 
the movements, counter- movements and promenades of a 
quadrille, without previous training or experience! At 

length, 

" Music arose with its voluptuous swell," 

And the clarion voice of the prompter rang out, "Balance 
all!" The graceful movements of my partner, when com- 
pared with my clumsy endeavors, seemed like a fairy before 
a statue. In vain did I try to imitate the others. There 
appeared to be power of cohesion between my boots and the 
Cottonwood floor. How I managed to go through the quad- 
rille without interfering with the movements of others, is a 
mystery. I overheard my partner telling another lady that, 
" The Receiver may be posted in land business, but he is not 
a success as a dancist." 

When the refreshments were brought in, the floor manager 
announced that the Rev. Romulus Pintus Westlake would 
preach in the building on the following Sunday. Rather an 
inappropriate time and place for such an announcement, but 
pardonable, under the circumstances, on the frontier. 

After supper the dancing continued, and during the small 
hours of the night I retired; and as I stepped out of the 



94 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

building on the prairie grass, I heard a coyote on the hill 
where the school house now stands, blending his tuneless, 
discordant yelping with the echo of the night wind, forming 
a striking contrast with the music of the violin within the 
building. As I listened to the coyote's doleful complainings, 
I speculated on his probable future, concluding that ere long 
the greyhounds of some sporting immigrant would contest 
his hereditary right to pour forth his long-drawn bowlings 
nightly on a part of the town site of Concordia. 



CHAPTER 8, 



THE SEEMON. 



The Rev. Romulus Pintus Westlake was not one of the 
straight -jacket, camp- meeting relics, whose sublime piety 
ignores a smile or a joke on Sunday, or whose week-day 
sanctity forbids story-telling and innocent amusements. On 
the contrary, he was a genial, social companion — witty, eccen- 
tric, humorous, and void of pride or selfishness. He enjoyed 
a good story, and could relate many laughable ones ; withal, 
however, possessing an excellent moral character, of good 
habits, and temperate in all things save eating. He relished 
a good dinner, and if there was any one faculty in which he 
excelled, it was in his capacity for measuring the quantity as 
well as testing the quality of provisions at meal-time. He 
would close a sermon abruptly at sound of the dinner-bell. 
I had doubted the truth of the irreverent tradition that at- 
tributes to preachers a special fondness for poultry, until I 
saw the major portion of a large roasted fowl suddenly dis- 
appear before the conquering appetite of the Rev. Romulus. 

His wit and eccentricity were of that character that, had 

(95) 



■96 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

he flourished during the reign of Charles the First, his ser- 
vices would have been in request as a court jester. His be- 
nevolence and charity to the poor were unbounded, and none 
left his cabin unsupplied. 

His birth-place and juvenile residence was in Virginia, 
near the head-waters of the Kanawha, among the foot-hills 
•on the western slope of the Alleghany mountains. His 
early education was limited, partly owing to lack of facil- 
ities, and partly to his inability to properly value the daily 
confinement in the log school-house of the district, as com- 
pared with the pleasure of extracting raccoons and rabbits 
from their retreats among the rocks or hollow trunks of de- 
cayed trees, or of lounging in the shade of the green old 
woods that skirted his native hills, or of gathering chestnuts 
in autumn, as they fell from the expanding burrs and rattled 
down the side of the mountain. Like all boys reared amid 
mountain scenery and forest shade, he was fond of fishing 
and hunting. To recline lazily on the bank of a mountain 
stream, fishing-rod in hand, or climb the ragged woodland 
hills, and listen eagerly for the long-drawn yelp of the fox- 
hound, furnished him more genuine pleasure than the mo- 
notonous recitations of the school-room; and many hours 
were thus spent that should have been devoted to study. 

He inherited and adhered to the traditional theory of his 



THE SERMON. 97 

ancestors concerning the influence of the moon upon vegeta- 
tion, and believed that unless garden-seeds, potatoes and 
other vegetables were planted before or after certain changes 
of the moon, they would not produce a crop; he also held 
that a cabin should be shingled, or an old-fashioned rail- 
fence built, only during certain phases of the moon, the 
proper time being ascertained by resort to the dust-covered 
almanac suspended from the convenient nail driven into the 
cabin wall adjacent to the family clock. 

He was a firm believer in the ground-hog as a prognosti- 
cator of the weather — maintaining that, on the second day 
of February in each year, the animal emerged from his bur- 
row, and if he saw his shadow, immediately returned to his 
winter-quarters for six weeks, during which period winter 
would continue to wrap the earth in its icy mantle. 

He also believed in another tradition or theory of his an- 
cestors, commonly called "water witchcraft,'^ which was prac- 
ticed by holding a forked stick in the hands and meandering 
about the premises in the vicinity of the spot selected for a 
well, the stick-holder maintaining that, when he arrived at 
the spot beneath which was a vein of water, the stick would 
indicate it, and by the number of its revolutions would also 
indicate the depth of the water below the surface. He car- 



98 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

ried this superstition into practice with success among the 
credulous settlers in the vicinity of his homestead cabin. 

He dated his church-membership from an exciting camp- 
meeting on a tributary of the Kanawha, when a young man, 
after he had "sown and harrowed in his wild oats." He 
served his country faithfully during the war of the Rebellion, 
and doubtless was entitled to be designated by some one of 
the military titles indiscriminately bestowed upon politicians 
and men of notoriety in Kansas. I am unable to learn in 
what capacity he served in the army, whether as chaplain or 
private. I infer, however, that he was in the cavalry service, 
from an illustration I heard him employ once in a sermon. 
His text was: "He paweth in the valley, and smelleth the 
battle afar oif/^ Said he, " My text revives my recollection 
of an occurrence that happened when I was in the army, at 
the Battle of the Wilderness. My horse smelled the battle 
'afar off,^ and notwithstanding all my exertion at spurring 
and thumping the heels of my army shoes against his flanks, 
he would not move forward; and finally, smelling the battle 
stronger, he wheeled and carried me so far to rear that I did 
not overtake my command until the battle was ended; and I 
came near being court-martialed and punished for cowardice, 
all owing to my horse smelling Hhe battle afar off.' He was 
like some church-members who remain in the rear, while the 



THE SERMON. 99 

minister and zealous members are firing along the whole line 
at the front/' 

A Virginian by birth, a Christian by practice, a wit by na- 
ture, and eccentric beyond the ordinary development of oddity 
in the make-up of man, he was a popular preacher and cir- 
cuit rider on the frontier. 

Judging from the irregular boundaries of his circuit, the 
distance he traveled, and the promptness with which he ful- 
filled each appointment, I infer that he was either converted 
by, or was a disciple of that eccentric preacher, Lorenzo Dow. 
He was not handsome in feature, but he had a musical voice, 
which, added to his eloquence, eccentricity, zeal and enthusi- 
asm, secured his popularit}^ as a preacher among the settlers. 

His eloquence, when he could control it, was of a high 
order, but the balance-wheel of his mind was of so little 
force that there seemed to be a total absence of the power of 
continuity; and frequently when preaching he would follow 
his text and pursue his subject logically, with powerful elo- 
quence and convincing pulpit oratory, for a short time, when 
suddenly his ideas seemed to expand and diverge from his 
subject, and scatter in all directions. At such periods in 
his sermons, his voice rolled in stately measures from the 
pulpit, his wit sparkled, and his anecdotes and illustrations 



.100 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

embraced all subjects between the two extremes of the sub- 
lime aud the ridiculous. He would institute a comparison 
between the tents of Israel and the sod-roofed "dug-outs" 
of the homestead settlers, or liken Judas Iscariot to a '^ first- 
class dead-beat of the nineteenth century." His eloquence 
would flash out for a moment like a brilliant meteor across 
the western sky, and disappear amid the gloom of incoherent 
reasoning, random assertions and irrelevant illustrations. 
His sermons, though serio-comic, disclosed sufficient traits 
of his character to demonstrate the fact that his religious life 
was void of bigotry, selfishness or prejudice, so frequently 
concealed beneath the cloak of sanctity. 

He was independent in politics, and bitterly opposed to 
human slavery, and believed the negroes would make better 
citizens and Christians than the Indians. He had suffered 
some by Indian depredations, and had an inveterate hatred 
towards that degenerate race. 

He was opposed to attributing the grasshopper devastations 
and other destructive agencies to Providence, and to use his 
own language, "There was attributed to Providence, fre- 
quently, by disappointed men and w^omen, more than is con- 
tained in the catalogue of inflictions." 

He enjoyed life, always viewed the bright side of the pic- 



THE SERMON. 101 

ture even in misfortune, never borrowed trouble, but always 
encouraged faith and hope when poverty and suffering crossed 
the threshold of the settlers. 

Such is a brief description of the Rev. Romulus Pintns 
Westlake, who was announced to preach in the land office 
building on the following Sunday. He appeared at the ap- 
pointed time, and the settlers for miles around came to hear 
him. 

Upon inquiry it was ascertained that there was not a Bible 
in the village, and the preacher had failed to bring one, and 
likewise had forgotten his text, but intimated his ability to 
find it if he had a Bible. After reflecting a moment, he re- 
membered detached portions of the passages, but had forgotten 
the exact language, or the order in which they appeared in 
Holy Writ. After the usual preliminary ceremonies, he pro- 
ceeded substantially as follows : 

"My friends and fellow-travelers in this wild frontier region — the land 
of our adoption — my Christian duty impels me to appear before you and 
present to you that brightest jewel among the gifts bestowed upon man- 
kind (the gospel), as taught by those who have gone before me — the 'lat- 
chets of whose shoes I am unworthy to unloose.' The regard I have for 
the truth compels me to admit that I have forgotten the chapter and verse, 
as well as the exact language of my text; but as near as I remember, it is 
about as follows: * Disturb not the old landmarks, though you be hewers 
of wood and drawers of water;' from which I deduce and supply the fol- 
lowing as the foundation of ray remarks on this occasion: 'Hew to the line, 
let the chips fall where they may.' The text clearly demonstrates that 



102 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

those who uttered it had an eye to business, temporal as well as spiritual, 
Whether Solomon was right in forbidding the removal of the old land- 
marks, or Joshua in imposing the duty of hewers of wood and drawers of 
water upon the conquered Canaanites, is a question too profound for a 
common preacher on the frontier, and I accept all Bible teaching as true, 
as I find it, without adding to or subtracting from it one jot or tittle. 

" But being without a Bible, I am compelled to use a figure of speech on 
which to base my sermon — hence my subject, 'Hew to the line, let the 
chips fall where they may ; but disturb not the old landmarks in doing so.' 
Judging all the homestead settlers by myself, they are all more or less 
'hewers of wood and drawers of water,' in a physical and moral p'int of 
view; differing from the hewers and drawers of old time in this, that the 
homestead settlers are free and independent, in a free country, while the 
old-time hewers and drawers were bondmen, or slaves. That part of the 
text that commands, * Disturb not the old landmarks,' might be applied to 
the monuments and corner-stones erected by the surveyors when this coun- 
try was surveyed, but I apply it to the moral and religious landmarks estab- 
lished by the church in its early days. 

"A departure from the old landmarks thus established, leads to new and 
doubtful theories and doctrines; and little by little the first principles and 
original doctrines are lost sight of, and infidelity, spiritualism and kindred 
dogmas usurp the place of the grand apostolic doctrines in the mind, and 
the original truths are discarded by those who seek the seductive paths of 
science and embrace the 'liberal' tenets of infidelity. Therefore, disturb 
not the old doctrinal landmarks of faith, lest you meander too far from the 
true line — the original witness-trees or monumental corners of the true 
survey. 

"The hewers of wood and drawers of water produce more happiness in 
the world than the nobles and aristocrats who bask in the sunshine of idle- 
ness, and subsist on the products of the honest toil of the laborers. The 
blood of a king whose commands rack a nation from center to circumfer- 
ence, and whose sword awes a continent into submission, is no better than 
that of the serf whom the king holds in bondage or in servile allegiance. 
He who was rocked in a sugar-trough for a cradle, and reared in the moss- 



THE SER3I0N. 103 

grown log cabin, may be a better, happier and wiser man than the aristocrat, 
whose infant cries were smothered with gorgeous drapery in a magnificent 
cradle, and reared amid the frescoed halls of a palace. 

"The honest laborer and Christian who 'hews to the line/ and makes 
society better and happier, and causes the light of civilization to penetrate 
the wilderness, thus dispelling the gloom of ignorance and barbarism, and 
causes Christianity to spread its genial rays wide over the world, may truly 
be classed as one of Nature's noblemen. 

" Many there are who, unhonored, have left in every footprint, from the 
cradle to the grave, brilliant examples of honesty and integrity ; whose 
energy and enterprise have caused the rose to blossom upon the desert 
waste, beautified the forest wilds, and gathered the splendors of the valley 
into the storehouse of usefulness. They hewed to the line, and won their 
reward in the sweat of honest toil. It has been written, * Whatsoever thou 
findest to do, do it with thy might;' and, I add, when thou doest it, 'Hew 
to the line.' 

" Pope said, 'An honest man is the noblest work of God.' What kind 
of a job would the old poet have designated a 'dead-beat,' or a dishonest 
rascal whose daily life is a routine of rascality, blasphemy and wickedness? 
Christianity, when professed and practiced sincerely, not only makes men 
better and happier, but also causes them to exhibit honesty and integrity 
of purpose in their intercourse with their fellow-men, thereby aiding to 
diffuse happiness throughout society. 'Remove the beam from thine own 
eye before thou searchest for the mote in thy brother's eye,' is as applicable 
west of the sixth principal meridian as it was nearly two thousand years 
ago on the shore of the Mediterranean. 

"There are many men, however^ who bottle up their religion on week- 
days, and make a regular soda-fountain of it on Sunday." 

Here some of the audience at the rear end of the building 
began to laugh, which soon spread among the entire congre- 
gation. I expected to hear the preacher reprove them; but 
instead thereof, he smiled one of his peculiar pleasant smiles, 



104 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

and looking at the audience for a moment, exclaimed in an 

emphatic manner, "Laugh and grow fat, but hew to the 

line!'^ This was too much for the audience, and they enjoyed 

a hearty laugh, in which the preacher joined. As soon as- 

order was restored, he proceeded as follows : 

" There are other men who whittle their religion, like a boy whittling a 
stick, down to the fine point of nothing." 

More merriment among the audience, in which Romulus- 
joined, after which he again proceeded, as follows: 

"Charity begins at home, and with many people remains at home. It 
has been written, 'Love your enemies;' and I do try to love mine, even 
the Indians, according to divine command, if they will stay away from this- 
country so far that ' Distance lends enchantment to the view.' 

"A philosopher may learn wisdom from a fool, and a Wall-street broker 
may learn integrity from a homestead settler. The difference between a 
sea captain and a stage driver is not so great as most people imagine, as- 
both are clothed with grave responsibility. The Ten Commandments are 
a wise collection of rules, and if strictly obeyed, the people would be better 
and happier — peace and good order would reign. But some strictly ob- 
serve one of the commandments, and perhaps violate the others. A deacon 
may swap horses with a layman and get the best of the bargain, or a man 
of the world practice chicanery with an easy-going Christian without any 
check of conscience. Others assume the voluntary responsibility of attend- 
ing to the affairs of an entire community, by dictating their duty in detail, 
making telegraphic announcement of the short-comings of their neighbors- 
throughout the neighborhood. All persons have their friends, some more, 
some less, but everyone is the recipient of more or less censure from the 
gossip-heralds of the community. But those who 'hew to the line,' regard- 
less of the fault-finding of others, sooner or later will brighten the pathway 
of Christianity. 

"Human nature is the same in all ages of the world; cultivate it in the 



THE SERMON. 105 

right direction, and it develops the beauty and ornamental design of the 
Creator; debase it, and it becomes the opposite. 

"While the pagan is worshipping his idol, the civilized Christian read- 
ing his Bible, the Indian is daubing his face with war-paint, counting his 
scalps, or reconnoitering a frontier settlement, to rob and murder — all 
done by the light of the same sun that illuminates the universe. States- 
men wrangle about, the affairs of government, kings go to war for suprem- 
acy and power, while the homestead settler breaks prairie, plants his 
crops, and reads his Bible in his rude dug-out, and is the happiest man. 

"Though his dug-out is rude in architecture, it shelters him and his 
family; and the wind may whistle through it, the wolves howl around it, 
but his little family gather closer about him as he reads his Bible and offers 
his devotions. He is in his castle, across the threshold of which no po- 
tentate dare venture without permission, and no sectarian scepter deters 
him from his Christian duty of hewing to the line, and training up his 
family as he was trained in his old Christian home in the East. There are 
many such dug-outs and such homes up and down this valley, and scattered 
over the frontier, before the doors of which my pony has often been hitched 
while I preached within. 

"The line should be straight, not zig-zag. Every bee-hunter knows full 
well that when the bee leaves its field of labor and starts for its home, the 
hive, the course it pursues is in a straight line. Though it may have wan- 
dered into new floral fields hitherto unexplored, or threatened by the near 
approach of a storm-cloud, its instinct teaches it that its chosen straight 
line is the shortest route to its home, and no deviation lengthens its jour- 
ney. A true man may learn wisdom from the flight of the honey-bee. 

" The zig-zag line is often followed in the journey of life, and in the 
scramble for the almighty dollar, and, like a cotton wood-board fence, is 
alternately warped and straightened by the storms of misfortune, or the 
sunshine of pleasure and happiness. 

"The straighter the line of conduct, the less the pressure on the con- 
science; and when the end is reached, the memory stretches backward to 
the paths of the past, lingering a moment at the guide-posts that pointed 
the route of travel through the moral world. 



106 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

"Many inon during their evil days tear down the partition wall between 
their conscience and their daily practice, and fail or neglect to repair or 
rebuild it after they make profession of a change in their moral conduct, 
or deail-head their way into the church. The evil one erects false guide- 
posts all along the pathway of life, primed and painted with the allure- 
ments of vice, that sooner or later cause the traveler or hewer to deviate 
from the true straight line, and he wanders into the wilderness of wicked- 
ness and despair. 

"There are no proxies in religion, and :is every tub stands upon its own 
bottom, so verily, 'he that tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be 
tooted.' If you are on the down grade, put on the brakes. 

"Chalk your line with the best intentions and resolutions you have, then 
hew to it without disturbing the 'old landmarks,* all along the journey of 
life, through evil as well as good report, on week days as well as Sundays, 
amid prosperity and adversity, with charity and Christian duty inscribed 
on your banner, and you will have a morality that will neither rip, ravel, 
nor rust. 

"I do not preach for money, and 1 never ask for any contributions for 
my preaching; but if some kind friend will invite me home with him to' a 
good dinner, and furnish some provender for my pony, he will receive his 
reward." 

He usually sang all his hymns in the same tune — Old 
Hundred — and he closed his services by singing the words 
of the Doxology in that venerable tune, with his musical 
voice and original variations, while a few of his congregation 
sang the words in tlie pro})er air; and if the discord was de- 
tected by anyone present, due allowance was made for the 
privilege of having a sermon and time-honored hymn-singing 
on tlio frontier. 



CHAPTEH 9. 

HOLDING COURT. 

During the interval between the completion of the build- 
ing for the Land Office, and the opening of the office for 
business, the fall term of the District Court for Cloud 
county was to be held in Concordia, the new county seat, 
for the first time. On the day fixed by law for convening 
court the judge of the district failed to put in an appearance, 
and a message was received that he was unable to appearand 
hold court on account of sickness. A goodly number of law- 
yers, clients, witnesses and the regular petit jury were in 
attendance, all anxious that court should be held. The trial 
docket showed sufficient cases for a whole week's work. A 
number of criminal cases were docketed in which the defend- 
ants were on bail for their appearance, and having appeared 
were in charge of the sheriff and his deputy, the sheriff having 
been advised by the newly-elected county attorney — who, by 
the way, had not yet qualified nor entered upon the discharge 
of his official duties — that he (the sheriff) must take the pris- 
oners into his custody. The prisoners were anxious to be 

( 107 ) 



108 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

tried aud know their fate, and their vigilant bondmen were 
present desiring to be released from further responsibility. 
A number of divorce cases were docketed which the plaintiffs 
were solicitous should be tried, for some reason unknown 
to all save their attorneys, who, from the statements of their 
clients under the ban of professional secresy, were doubtless 
aware that executory verbal contracts of marriage with " num- 
ber two" had been entered into and could not be postponed. 
Hence the attorneys were determined that court should be 
held, ostensibly, as they insisted, for the reason that some of 
their clients were in the custody of the sheriff, restrained of 
their liberty, but a more potent reason was inferred to be that 
their fees were not to be paid until the cases were tried, and 
were contingent upon a successful termination of the litigation. 
A meeting was held to determine whether a pro tern, judge 
should be chosen and court held. At the meeting Judge 
B made a speech, as follows: 

^'Mr. Chairman : Court must be held. My clients and others are in cus- 
tody and restrained of their liberty. They are here demanding a full-grown 
trial, by an impartial jury — if we have any in this free country — and I be- 
lieve we have." (The last remark was made for the benefit of the regular 
panel, who were in attendance.) "There are a number of yeomen here as 
prisoners, restrained of their liberty — that liberty for which their forefathers 
fought during the Revolution; that liberty for which Washington crossed 
the Delaware amid floating ice, under a moonless sky at midnight, on that 
night of nights ever memorable, Christmas; and that liberty written in let- 
ters of living light by the pen of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independ- 



HOLDING COURT. 109 

ence; that liberty the centrifugal force of which radiated from the hearts 
of the Green Mountain Boys, verified and sealed with the blood of patriotic 
Puritans on the brow of Bunker Hill, on the banks of the Brandy wine, 
among the snow-clad hills of Vslley Forge, and at Yorktown, where Corn- 
wallis threw up the sponge and laid his British sword at the feet of the 
father of our country ; that liberty that was inserted in the bill of rights in 
our American magna charta, and defended by Dan Webster, Henry Clay and 
Andy Jackson, and all the other great statesmen who nave crossed the 
shadow of the rotunda of the capitol of our country, and which has been for 
eighty years the boon of every American citizen, native or naturalized." 
(The closing part of the last sentence was intended by the Judge for the 
naturalized Swedes who were on the jury.) "In behalf of the aforesaid 
liberty, and my clients who are in durance limbo, I demand that a judge 
pro tern, be chosen and court held !" 

The speech of the Judge decided the question, and it was 
resolved to elect a pro tern, judge and hold court; and the 
members of the bar retired to a room to choose the judge. I 
was sitting in my temporary room poring over the dry pages 
of " Lester's Land Laws and Decisions," and the circulars of 
the General Land Office, when three members of the bar ap- 
peared as a committee, of which Judge B was chairman. 

The Judge, as chairman, addressed me as follows: 

"Most potent, grave and silent denizen! Thou profound, sun-tanned, 
weather-beaten relic of the Eastern Kansas bar! Our judge having failed 
to put in an appearance owing to sickness, caused by overloading his stom- 
ach at a festival, and the welfare of the country depending upon court being 
held in this embryo city, the future emporium of this valley, and that the 
peers of your Honor and members of this committee, who are restrained of 
their liberty, may be released, the innocent acquitted, and the guilty pun- 
ished according to the statute in such cases made and provided, and the 



110 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

long-delayed creditors receive their just due, the members of the bar of this 
county have held an election as provided for in the constitution ; and learn- 
ing that in the land from which you have journeyed you were an expounder 
of the law, and knowing that you are a stranger to all our clients and the 
parties litigant, and not of kin to the County Attorney, we have concluded 
that you are the most suitable person to represent justice, as the goddess of 
that ancient and mysterious theory was represented as blindfolded, which, 
however, is not strictly in accordance with that maxim from scripture, 'If 
the blind lead the blind they will both be mulct in the cost.' However, 
we have chosen you pro tern, judge. Will your honor please accompany 
the committee to the Clerk of the Court, and be sworn to support the con- 
stitution of the United States and of this State, and all acts and parts of 
acts not in conflict therewith, and otherwise discharge the duty of pro tern. 
judge." 

For some reason, not well founded, the Judge imagined 
that I was a member of some church of the strictly ortho- 
dox school, and being well read in the scripture, and of a 
retentive memory, in his address as chairman of the com- 
mittee, he drew largely from the Bible for his reasons and 
illustrations, the most of which quotations I have forgotten. 
History was not neglected in that address, and "The restless 
Komans throwing aside the trappings of place and pride, 
and calling Cincinnatus from his plow in the corn-field to 
preside over the Roman Senate," is a sample of the histor- 
ical eloquence of the Judge in his elaborate address to me. 

In vain I begged to be excused. The Judge informed me 
that the meeting had directed the Clerk to fine me for con- 
tempt if I refused. I protested, that being a Federal office- 



HOLDING COURT. Ill 

holder I could not legally act as judge pro tern. He replied 
that they would waive all technical advantage of that, if 
any existed. Said he: 

"There are no politics in this election. I am aware that your Honor is 
a member of the Kepublican party — the dominant party — and I have no 
doubt, sir, but that you are one of the bright lights along the pathway of 
your party, *a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night' to guide the be- 
nighted followers of the leaders of your party ; but, sir, there are no poli- 
tics in this election of pro tern, judge. I know not the politics of the other 
two members of the committee. I believe they belong to your party; but 
as for myself, I never deny my politics. I am a time-serving, moss-grown 
Democrat of the Jackson school, in favor of the constitution and suprem- 
acy of the civil law. The constitution provides for a pro tern, judge, and 
the time for which we have elected you is one week, and, as a Democrat, I 
am willing to risk a Kepublican in oflBce for one week, especially when 
there are no emoluments attaching." 

Further objection was useless, and as an accommodation to 
the attorneys, litigants and jurors, I consented t© serve, and 
was sworn by the Clerk, and opened court in the land 
office building. It was a lively court, and elicited more 
enjoyable fun and rollicking humor than any court I had 
ever attended. 

Without specifying each case in its order, suffice it to say 
that I called the docket each day, granted all the divorces 
applied for, and in order to preserve the untrammeled right 
of parties to bring suits, presuming that each party who had 
commenced an action by filing his petition had legal grounds 
for doing so, I overruled all the demurrers. There was one 



112 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

case tried before me, however, that I deem of sufficient im- 
portance to be described in detail, as it involved an unique 
feature in practice, then new to me, involving the question 
of making profert of the countenance of the prisoner (the 
defendant) to the court. 

As near as I recollect, the case was docketed as — 

The State of Kansas 1 

vs. > Breach of the peace. 

Hans Von Sederland. J 

The complaint, in the shape of an affidavit, contained the 
following language: 

"The said defendant, Hans Von Sederland, without the fear of God be- 
fore his eyes, and instigated by his Satanic Majesty, with a double-barreled 
shot-gun, loaded and charged with gunpowder and bird-shot, with malice 
aforethought, in and upon one Casper Boonfelter and his cattle, then and 
there being, did commit an assault with intent to wound, maim and injure 
him, the said Casper Boonfelter, and his cattle. And the said defendant, 
Hans Von Sederland, with malice aforethought, with the aforesaid double- 
barreled shot-gun, so as aforesaid loaded and charged with powder and 
shot, did flourish in a menacing manner; and the said defendant, Hans 
Von Sederland, with malice aforethought, the said double-barreled shot- 
gun, so as aforesaid loaded and charged, did point at and towards the cattle 
belonging to him, the said Casper Boonfelter; and the said defendant, 
Hans Von Sederland, with the aforesaid shot-gun, loaded and charged as 
aforesaid, did threaten to wound, maim and injure the person and cattle of 
him, the said Casper Boonfelter, then and there being, contrary to the stat- 
ute in such cases made and provided," etc. 

The defendant had been arrested, and examined before a 

justice of the peace, and bound over to appear before the 

District Court, and in the meantime, to keep the peace 



HOLDING COURT. 113 

toward Boonfelter and his cattle, and mankind generally. 
The case was called, the prisoner arraigned, and the ques- 
tion at issue before me was, whether the prisoner should be 
held to bail further to keep the peace, or be discharged — 
a case that ordinarily would not occupy the attention of a 
court but a short time, but which engaged this court, as the 
proceedings show, nearly an entire day, owing to the lengthy 
argument of counsel. It is necessary here to give a brief 
description of the defendant, in order that the reader may 
fully understand the action of the attorneys and the finding 
of the court. 

The defendant, Hans Von Sederland, was a German, and 
in the course of a long service in the army in Europe, and 
in the volunteer service of the United States during the war 
of the Rebellion, had received many wounds, in consequence 
of which he was somewhat deformed, and at the time of the 
alleged offense was obliged to walk with a cane. While his 
countenance bore every indication of honesty and a peaceable, 
quiet nature, he was perhaps the ugliest man in Kansas; 

though in that respect, according to Judge B 's speech, 

he had but little advantage of the County Attorney. 

The evidence submitted showed substantially the fol- 
lowing: That Boonfelter was one of those enterprising 
stock-raisers who had sought to establish himself upon the 



114 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

boundless prairie, where his cattle could range at will, and 
had built his corral in a belt of timber skirting the banks 
of the Republican, in close proximity to the homestead of 
Sederland. Boonfelter's herd was not a large one, consist- 
ing of the old bell-cow — about nineteen years of age — (in 
the opinion of the witnesses, calculated from the number of 
wrinkles on her horns,) with her progeny, grand-progeny 
and great-grand-progeny, of both sexes, down to the twelfth 
generation, including the youngest, a rollicking month-old 
calf picketed in the back yard. The old bell-cow had com- 
mitted many trespasses, notwithstanding the herd law was 
in force; and having reconnoitered the least guarded and 
weak points surrounding Sederland's corn-field, and taking 
advantage of the afternoon nap of "Bub^^ Boonfelter, who 
was herding the stock, made a dash for the corn-field, fol- 
lowed by her numerous progeny. This was more than the 
impetuous Sederland could endure, and seizing his old rusty 
shot-gun, that had been loaded for many months, sallied 
forth with the two-fold purpose of peppering the old bell- 
cow with bird-shot, and corralling the remainder until Boon- 
felter paid the damages. In vain he tried to fire the old 
gun that would have required a gunsmith with suitable 
tools to draw the charge. 

Boonfelter with his tardy boy, the herder, appeared on 



HOLDING COURT. 115 

the field, and an amusing scene transpired, according to the 
evidence. The shot-gun was flourished; high words were 
uttered in strong language, accompanied with the usual 
amount of profanity on such occasions. Sederland, being a 
foreigner, somewhat reversed the natural order of profane 
words — that is, he swore backwards, or in such an awkward 
manner as to emphasize syllables differently from the style 
of American swearers; from which, and upon which circum- 
stance, Boonfelter founded his belief that personal violence 
was threatened by Sederland. Much more evidence of an 
amusing character was adduced. The aifair terminated by 
Boonfelter obtaining possession of his cattle, without a 
scratch or blemish at the hands of the deformed Sederland, 
and the arrest of the defendant for breach of the peace, in 
which action the magistrate had found sufficient conclusions 
of fact and law to hold him to bail to keep the peace, and 
for his appearance at the District Court. 

The County Attorney appeared for the State, and Judge 

B for the defendant. After the evidence was all in, the 

County Attorney requested the defendant to stand up, and 
he having complied with the request, the prosecutor took 
him by the arm and led him in front of me. I could 
not imagine what was his object. I was soon relieved of 
suspense, however, for Judge B immediately arose and 



116 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

said — "What are you doing with my client?" To which 
the County Attorney replied, "I desire to make profert of 
the prisoner to the court. If your Honor please, just look at 
that countenance'^ — at the same time pointing to the face of 

the prisoner. "I object,'^ said Judge B , and supported 

his objection with the following speech: 

"Sir: It is the most ridiculous proceeding I ever witnessed in court. 
Simply because my client is not handsome — the ugliest man in the com- 
munity — to ofler his countenance in evidence to prove that he is a crimi- 
nal, is a diabolical attempt on the part of the County Attorney to injure 
the character of my client, after failing to make out his case. But since I 
cannot prevent your Honor from looking at the face and features of mj 
client, I implore you to compare his countenance with that of the County 
Attorney, and then decide, from the vast stores of your knowledge on the 
subject of physiognomy, as if you were not otherwise informed, which 
countenance would be likely to adorn the prisoner at the bar, arraigned 
as a criminal, and which the County Attorney. 

"Things inanimate are sometimes made profert to a jury; but who ever 
heard of the countenance of a prisoner arrested on a peace warrant being 
made profert to the court simply because he is ugly? Sir, you may ran- 
sack the musty records of antiquity down through the devious paths of the 
common law, through all the practice of centuries before the King's Bench, 
at Nisi Prius, or even before the learned justices of the peace in Kansas, 
and you will not find an instance of such an idiotic attempt to disgrace the 
practice and noble profession of the law, as this profert of my client by the 
County Attorney. It will have about as much effect upon your Honor in 
this case as the light reflected from the putrescent scales of a decayed 
mackerel in the streets of Chicago would have upon the inhabitants of 
the planet Uranus ! 

"I have heard of lightning-bug lawyers and the exegetical blow-guns 
in pettifoggers' shoes advocating technical nonsense with bold effrontery, 
but this out-lightnings the most brilliant bug of the species — ranks the 



HOLDING COURT. 117 

<;ondemnedest, meanest pettifogging ever indulged in by counsel in a court 
of justice, and none but a fungus-growth, mildewed lawyer would seek to 
impose such an insult upon my ugly but patriotic client! 

"This venerable Dutchman, who has faced the mouths of belching can- 
non in the Ke volution of 1848, and whose blood crimsoned the waters of the 
Danube; who, in defending his adopted country, to use his own language, 
^Fit mit Sigel' in the valley of the Shenandoah, and 'Fit mit Kosecrans' 
from the rock-ribbed slopes of the Cumberland mountains to the blood- 
stained field of Chickamauga ; who has been roused a thousand times from 
his midnight slumber on the tented field by the long roll, and sprang to 
arms to meet the foe in defense of his adopted country, for which he per- 
iled his life, far from his home and kindred; and who, when the war was 
over, wounded, disabled, and disfigured by the scars of battle, sought peace 
and a quiet life on his homestead in this beautiful valley — and now, when 
he is brought here on a peace warrant into the temple of justice, covered 
with as many battle-scars as decorated the person of Coriolanus of old, he 
receives no kindness from a grateful people for his long suffering in behalf 
of the Kepublic, but is insulted by the County Attorney, who presents the 
countenance of this scarred veteran and dilapidated warrior as profert to the 
•court, and as an extra inducement to convict him for pointing a rusty old 
shot-gun at Boonfelter's aged bell-cow. Eepublics may not be ungrateful, 
but man, vain man, clothed with the mantle and authority of a pettifogger, 
"* will cut such fantastic tricks' in a court of record as would make the blind- 
folded Goddess of Justice weep I" 

This speech swept away ray judicial discretion, and I dis- 
charged the prisoner, ordering that he go hence without 
day ; and as he hobbled out of the court room, he bestowed 
2l grateful look that implored a blessing on me for all time. 

Court adjourned for the term. 



CHAPTER 10. 

NORTHWESTERN KANSAS. 

Kansas occupies a prominent position as the central State 
in the Union, and her prosperity, secured under discouraging 
circumstances, and by the enterprise and industry of her 
citizens, is widely recognized. Young in years as a State, 
Kansas is ripe in experience, and in those progressive quali- 
ties that are the sure foundation of greatness. During its 
first settlement, no portion of the State possessed greater 
attractions for the agriculturist, the stock raiser, the me- 
chanic, and the tourist, than that part of Northern Kansas 
west of the Blue river, called the Homestead Region. 

The Republican and Solomon valleys, and the country 
drained by those streams and their tributaries, but a few 
years ago were the hunting-ground of the Indians, and the 
grazing-field of the buffalo, elk and antelope, and the an- 
cestral haunts of the coyotes and prairie dogs. During the 
war of the Rebellion, the settlements of Northern Kansas 
had been confined to that part of the country east of the Blue 
river, and the few settlers who had ventured west of that 

river were in danger from incursions by roving bands of In- 

(118) 



yOBTHWESTEBX KAXSAS. 119 

dians. After the war closed, immigrauts again moved west- 
ward, crossed the Blue, and penetrated this beautiful country. 

What a lovely and vast landscape stretched before the vis- 
ion of the beholder! The wide expanse of prairie swept 
away on either side, dotted here and there with groves of 
timber, and the vision was only limited by the far horizon. 
The streams, bordered with timber, could be traced by their 
winding course in the distance, while the natural grandeur 
and beauty of the landscape delighted the immigrants, whose 
only fear was of lurking Indians, who reluctantly yielded 
their favorite hunting-ground to the advance-guard of civil- 
ization. 

The valleys of the Republican and Solomon and their 
tributaries were the objective points to which the immigrants 
wended their way. These valleys, in the spring time, were 
grand and beautiful beyond the power of pen portraiture. 
The bluffs along the streams were but sloping plains, grad- 
ually ascending from the bottoms to the upland prairie, with 
occasional headlands or promontories overlooking the streams 
on one shore, while on the opposite side were extensive bot- 
toms and plateaus. If the landscape presented to the tirst 
settlers a scene of wild loneliness, all this was rapidly changed 
by the echoes of civilization from the camp-fires and cabins 



120 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

of constantly-arriving immigrants. The grass-covered up- 
lands, the wide valleys, the shallow, narrow canons, caused 
by the showers of ages as the water sought an outlet to the 
streams, the gradual rising ridges, bordered at the base with 
clusters of plum trees draped with grape-vines, forming a 
shady retreat for the wild-turkey and jack-rabbit, made up 
a picture of rural loveliness. 

Among the natural scenery of this country may properly 
be classed the mounds, so called, being cone-shaped eleva- 
tions rising abruptly from the bottoms or upland, which can 
be seen at a great distance, outlined against the blue sky or 
hazy horizon. What a scene greeted the beholder, upon as- 
cending one of those mounds ! The vision had an uninter- 
rupted range of the wide -extended plain. The mounds 
constituted lookouts for the immigrant, hunter or traveler, 
when watching for the approach of Indians. Where is the 
mound-climber among the first settlers whose heart has not 
leaped at the view that met his vision on ascending to the 
summit? In one direction a dark moving mass outlined 
against the horizon, which the beholder knew to be a herd 
of buffalo; in another place, a band of elk quietly grazing, 
while the fleet antelopes dashed over the adjacent ridges. 
From that elevation the course of the streams could be 



NORTHWESTERN KANSAS. 121 

traced by the darker color of the foliage of the timber skirt- 
ing their banks, winding away in the distance until lost to 
view. 

A prominent feature of the natural scenery of this region 
is Lake Sibley, in Cloud county. It is in the shape of a 
horse-shoe, about two miles long, and of the width and depth 
of the Republican river. In the distant past it was doubt- 
less the channel of the river, and becoming obstructed by 
beaver- dams and drift-wood, the river sought its present 
channel, leaving the lake entirely segregated. The lake is 
aifected by the river only when the latter overflows its banks 
and runs into the lake. It is fed by springs, and the water 
is clear, abounding in fish of several varieties, such as sun- 
fish, bass, cat and buffalo, the most numerous being the sun- 
fish and bass, which are caught in great numbers with rod 
and line, furnishing rare sport that more nearly resembles 
trout-fishing than any other in Kansas. The shores of the 
lake are bordered with a dense growth of willows and plum 
bushes, with a large number of elm, walnut and cotton wood 
trees, casting a cool shade in summer over the water, beneath 
whose shadowed surface the lithsome bass and sluggish buf- 
falo fish find a secluded retreat. Rambling along the shores 
of the lake, or reclining beneath the shade of the trees with 



122 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

rod and line, reminds one of his boyhood sport in bass-fishing 
in the streams of the older States. 

As the shadows lengthen toward sunset, the long-drawn- 
out music of the katykid pervades the air in mournful ca- 
dences, suggesting to the mind of the credulous the bare 
possibility that the original notes of the '^ Dead March in 
Saul" were derived from the music of the katydid. Be 
that as it may, there is something in the song of the katy- 
did in those shadowed glens, along the shore of the lake, that 
causes the memory to traverse the past to the chirp of the 
cricket and the song of the katydid at the old homestead, 
in boyhood days — something that creates a momentary feeling 
of regret, calls up sad, but withal pleasant memories of the 
log-cabin, the weeping-willow by the window, the walnut 
trees in the barnyard, the sugar trees that bordered the lane 
leading to the pasture, and the stately elms and butternut 
trees that cast a shade over the moss-grown watering-trough 
at the spring branch. Such meditations are soon dispelled, 
however, by the deep base croaking of an aged bull-frog, of 
high rank, far up the lake, answered by others nearer join- 
ing in the chorus all along the shore in a variety of keys, 
from the hoarse base of the great green frog, down to the 
piping of the juveniles that have but recently dispensed with 



NORTHWESTERN K ANSA p. 12S 

their tadpole appendage in the shallow marsh at the foot of 
the lake. The warning murmu. of the musquito informs 
one that an old marauder is reconnoitering for an attack upon 
the vulnerable points of face or ears, just as the line quivers 
with a prospect of landing a*bass. Barring these temporary 
interruptions, a day's fishing about Lake Sibley is rare sport. 

During the spring and autumn months the lake is fine 
shooting-ground for sportsmen, large numbers of wild geese, 
brant and ducks congregating there. 

No part of Kansas, during its early settlement, has suffered 
more from Indian raids than have the Republican and Solo- 
mon valleys. The settlers of Ottawa county were disturbed 
by the Indians more or less from 1860 until 1864. 

In 1860, Jacob Miller was killed by Indians near the 
present village of Delphos, and was buried in what is now 
the city cemetery near Minneapolis, on the 4th of July. 
After that, no settlers remained in the Solomon valley above 
Sand creek, until 1863. In 1864, a stockade was built about 
three miles below where Minneapolis now stands. The fol- 
lowing incident of the organization of the company for de- 
fense of the stockade was told me by H. S. Wooden, Esq., 
of Minneapolis, an early settler, from whom I learned the 
history of the Indian raids in that county : 

" In order," he said, " to obtain commissions for a captain 



124 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

and lieutenants in the militia to guard the settlement, it was 
necessary to have a certain number of men enrolled, and well 
do I remember when I first saw that company mustered into 
line, and the arms — old muskets — delivered to them. Many 
ten-year-old boys were members of the company, and as they 
marched away, the query rose in my mind as to which was 
the larger, the boy or the musket — and it was really amusing 
to see those little fellows at drill." 

The incident shows to what extent the settlers were driven 
to protect themselves from the savages, and those boys, now 
grown to manhood, will never forget their juvenile military 
training in that old stockade of the past. 

In 1866, several families, consisting of William Belknap, 
John Rice and family, Nicholas Ward and family, an old 
man by the name of Flint, John Marling and family, and some 
others, took homestead claims along White Rock creek. 

In August of that year a war party of Cheyennes appeared 
in the vicinity of Marling's cabin, and while Marling was 
endeavoring to procure one of his horses for the purpose of 
riding down the creek to notify the settlers, the Indians en- 
tered the cabin and dragged Mrs. Marling into the timber, 
where she was treated in the most inhuman and fiendish 
manner, and left in an insensible condition. Early the next 
morning Marling returned with a few settlers, and found his 



NORTHWESTERN KANSAS. 125 

wife wandering over the prairie in an almost frenzied con- 
dition. Her terrible suffering had rendered her almost wild. 
The Indians had taken everything movable from the cabin. 
The settlers then moved to the stockade, in Republic county. 
In a few days, Ward and others returned to their claims, 
where they remained until spring. 

On the 9th of April, 1867, the Indians again attacked the 
settlement, killing Bartlett, Mrs. Sutzer and her little son, 
and Mr. Ward, taking Mrs. Ward a prisoner; since which 
time no trace indicating her sad fate has been discovered. 

In the summer of 1866, a party of six hunters, consisting 
of Lewis Cassil, Walter Haines and two others from Clifton, 
and two sons of William Collins, then living in Cloud county, 
were all killed by Indians, after a desperate fight, on Little 
Cheyenne creek, some ten miles west of the city of Concordia, 
an account of which may be found in another chapter. 

The Scandinavian or Swedish colony located on the Re- 
publican river, and laid out the present town of Scandia, in 
Republic county. The colony extended their settlement up 
and down the river, and for some distance up White Rock 
creek. They protected themselves as well as possible against 
the Indians, and when attacked, left their claims and repaired 
to the general rendezvous at Scandia for safety. 

The Excelsior colony, composed largely of Scotchmen, was 



126 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

established in 1869, and built a block- house near where 
Homewood is situated. 

The Swedes returned to their claims, but in May, 1869, 
they were driven back to Scandia by the Indians, who had 
attacked hunters and settlers farther west on the creek and 
Republican river, in which attack a settler named John Dahl 
was killed. 

About that time, Philip Burk, a resident of Marshall 
oounty, and six others, while hunting buffalo on the Repub- 
lican, in the northwest part of Jewell county, were attacked 
by Indians, and fought their way back to White Rock creek, 
near its mouth, in Republic county; and upon reaching the 
Republican river, having exhausted their ammunition, they 
plunged into the river, and six of them were killed — only 
one, John McChesney, escaping to tell the fate of the others. 
A full detail of those Indian raids in that part of the coun- 
try may be found in the ^'Homestead Guide," by F. G. 
Adams, and in the pamphlet "History of Jewell County," 
by Winsor & Scarborough. 

In August, 1868, the Indians made a raid along the whole 
frontier settlements, from the Smoky Hill river to Nebraska, 
mainly upon the Saline, Solomon and Republican. Benjamin 
White, who resided on what is now called White's creek, in 
Oloud county, was killed, and his daughter carried into cap- 



NORTHWESTERN KANSAS. 127 

tivity. On the Republican, in the vicinity of White Rock 
creek and Scandia, the settlers suffered, but the heaviest blow 
was struck on White's creek and on the Solomon. Miss 
Jennie Paxton was teaching school on the present town site 
of Glasco, on the Solomon, and hearing that the Indians were 
advancing, she, with her pupils, started for the nearest place 
of safety. The Indians discovered them, and gave pursuit. 
The teacher was a brave young lady, and kept between the 
little children and the advancing savages, and they all reached 
a place of safety, except a boy, a son of Capt. H. C. Snyder, 
who was overtaken. Young as he was, he made a gallant 
resistance, but was left for dead. He was not mortally 
wounded, however, and finally recovered. 

At that time Mr. Morgan, residing in Ottawa county, was 
wounded, and Mrs. Morgan, his wife, taken prisoner, who, 
with Miss White, captured on White's creek, was kept by 
the Indians six months, and suffered intensely, until both 
were rescued by General Custer. In the spring of 1869, a 
son of Mr. Adkins was killed by the Indians on the Repub- 
lican river, eight miles above Concordia. 

The last raid was made by the Indians in the summer of 
1870, when three men were killed at the mouth of Limestone 
creek, in Mitchell county, and the settlers of Jewell county, 
on Buffalo creek, saved themselves from attack by collecting 



128 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

together and building a barricade, or fort, on the present 
town site of Jewell City. It was called "Fort Jewell,^' and 
is one of the interesting features in the early history of 
Jewell county. 

But the Indians have gone — none having appeared in 
Northwest Kansas since 1870, until the fall of 1878, when 
the Northern Cheyenne band escaped from their reservation 
in the Indian Territory, and in going northward crossed the 
western part of the State, and committed numerous murders 
and outrages in Decatur county and vicinity. 

The buffalo, too, have been driven westward by the onward 
march of civilization, and Prentis's "Star of Empire on the 
old-time wagon wheels" is now conveyed on locomotive 
trucks. In lieu of forts and block-houses are the depots of 
railways, and instead of the war-whoop of the Indians is 
heard the whistle of the locomotive along the Republican 
and Solomon valleys. All this change in eight years; and 
ere eight more years have passed away the entire northwestern 
portion of the State will be thickly populated with indus- 
trious, enterprising people, and doubtless the trains of the 
C. B. U. P. Railway will be running to Denver. 

In the summer of 1858, T. F. Hersey and a party were 
traveling up the Solomon, and camped for a night on the 
oval-shaped mound near where the mill now stands in Beloit, 



NORTHWESTERN KANSAS, 129 

at the base of which mound was a spring of pure water. The 
night was cloudless and lighted by the rays of a full moon, 
and as Hersey lay on his blanket he heard a rippling sound 
as though the water of the Solomon was running over shal- 
low falls; and he waded out into the stream and found a 
ripple of considerable fall, with rock bottom. Though it was 
night, his keen perception at once satisfied him that there 
was a water-power of great value, and he determined to re- 
turn in the future and secure its advantages. In 1869 he 
and others laid out the town of Beloit, and he commenced 
improving the water-power; since which time it has been 
amply demonstrated that the Solomon river affords more ex- 
tensive water-power facilities than any other stream in the 
State. 

In June, 1872, the Northwestern Land District was cre- 
ated, embracing all that part of the Republican Land Dis- 
trict west of the west line of range 8, west. At that time 
Cawker City was a small village, having been laid out in the 
autumn of 1870 by E. H. Cawker and others. The land 
oflBce for the district was located at Cawker City, and the 
office was opened for business on the 5th day of August, 1872. 

On the 4th of July, 1872, while the citizens of Cawker 
City were celebrating the anniversary of Independence, a 
9 



130 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

huge buffalo, as if his instinct had been permeated by the 
spirit of independence, boldly appeared upon the town site, 
paused a moment to look at the American flag floating from 
a liberty-pole, then shook his shaggy head with scornful de- 
fiance at the increasing evidences of civilization, and with a 
majestic movement turned his course westward to seek his 
companions. He paid dearly for his hazardous reconnois- 
sance, however, for a half-dozen citizens and sportsmen 
seized their fire-arms and gave chase, and cutting off his re- 
treat, hemmed him in on the town site. Then followed rare 
sport and a scene of lively adventure, making it one of the 
most exciting celebrations of the 4th of July of record on 
the frontier. The buffalo was a noble specimen of his species, 
and he struggled long to preserve his existence, but finally 
yielded his life a sacrifice on his native pasture, in full view 
of the American flag. His breath was no sooner stilled than 
he was dressed, and the choice portions of his flesh roasted 
and added to the viands which helped to distinguish the oc- 
casion. In the future, when Cawker City becomes a manu- 
facturing town, and when trains on the C. B. U. P. Railway 
pass through on their way from Atchison to Denver, the 
boys who assisted in killing that buffalo, in recounting to 
the traveler the incidents of the early history of the town. 



NORTHWESTERN KANSAS. 131 

will point with pride to the exact spot where, on the 4th of 
July, 1872, they killed the buffalo, as a part of the sport 
which made that day memorable. 

In the early settlement of this homestead region, the im- 
migrants were composed not only of persons from many of 
•the States of the Union, but also largely of immigrants from 
Europe. The greatest number of foreign immigrants were 
from Sweden and Norway, and they are now an industrious, 
enterprising people — orderly, moral, frugal, and good citi- 
-zens — who left their homes and workshops in their native 
country to seek homesteads that ripen into fee-simple titles 
to the quarter -sections of beautiful land on the prairies of 
Kansas. Their industry, frugality and honesty are proverbial, 
and they have aided materially in developing the country. 

The hardy Scotsmen left their native highlands to seek 
homesteads on the prairies of Kansas, where they could imi- 
tate their idol poet, the Scottish bard, by following the plow 
•on their own land on the Western plains, encouraging them- 
selves with the noble sentiment — 

"A man's a man for a' that." 
The stone-cutter from Edinburgh can exercise his artistic 
fikill in carving into useful shapes the beautiful magnesian 
limestone so abundant in this region. If the flower-bordered 
banks of the Republican and Solomon remind them of the 



132 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

"Lovely Dee," or "Bonny Doon," causing a transient home- 
sickness, it is soon dispelled by the prospect of farms un- 
burdened with rent, which reflection banishes any lingering 
regret at leaving their native country. 

As an evidence of the industry and enterprise of the Scots- 
men, the beautiful tract of country southwest of Belleville, in 
Republic county, called the "Scotch Plains," is a well-regu- 
lated neighborhood of farmers from Scotland, and presents as 
fine attractions as any tract of country in Northwestern Kan- 
sas. The industrious stock raisers from England here found 
a wide range for their cattle and sheep, while the healthful 
breeze fanned their ruddy faces, causing them to smile with 
contentment and happiness. 

The polite, vivacious Frenchmen, in large numbers, here 
found ample room for their enterprise and industry, and have 
aided largely in developing the country. 

The good-natured, jolly German smokes his meerschaum 
and drinks the staple beverage of his native country under 
the shade trees on his homestead, as contented and happy as 
the lord of his native manor on the banks of the Rhine. 

In conclusion, the extensive prairies and valleys of North- 
western Kansas offer rare inducements to immigrants from 
Europe. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE LAND OFFICE. 

January 16, 1871, the date fixed for the opening of the 
United States Land Office for business, was a lively day for 
the little village of Concordia, with its half-dozen houses 
surrounded with prairie grass. The creaking of the snow 
beneath the feet of the pedestrians, and the grating sound of 
the wagon wheels over the frozen ground, were evidence that 
the mercury was but a trifle above zero. The white covered 
wagons and smouldering camp-fires occupied every available 
space adjacent to the Land Office building. 

A large number of settlers had collected in front of the 
building, waiting patiently for the office to open for business. 
One stalwart fellow had been holding to the door-knob 
since early dawn with as much tenacity as if life or death de- 
pended upon his being the first to enter the office when the 
<ioor should be opened. Lawyers and land agents, with 
overcoat pockets crammed with papers, were passing to and 
fro^among that vast throng of weather-beaten settlers and 
immigrants. That crowd of waiting people embraced per- 
sons of several nationalities, and native-born citizens from 

(133) 



134 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

many of the States of the Union. They were of all ages,. 
from the veteran farmer of threescore and ten, down to the 
young man who had just reached his majority. They were 
the frontiersmen whose energy and muscular power were well 
calculated to settle and improve a new country, and drive the 
Indians and buffalo westward. They were the men for whose 
benefit the homestead law was enacted, in return for which 
the Government was assured that the monotonous stillness of 
the frontier would be broken by every sound of civilization. 
They were men who could endure the hardships incident to 
the settlement of a new country and frontier life — men who 
could rear the cabin, construct the '^dug-out/' and overturn 
the prairie sod that had been the grazing-ground of the buf- 
falo, covered by the snows of winter and watered by the show- 
ers of summer for ages. 

Many of them were landless in their native States, and 
had come west to secure a home. The assembly was a promis- 
cuous one. There was the gray-haired grandfather, anxious 
that his sons, sons-in-law and grandsons should each secure 
a quarter-section of land, avowing his determination to take 
one himself, maintaining that he could, old as he was, " make 
a farm" with less work, on the prairie, the difference in age 
even considered, than he did fifty years ago in the heavy 
timber of Indiana. There was the middle-aged man froui 



THE LAND OFFICE. 135 

one State, discussing with a settler from another State the 
relative merits of Kansas as compared with their native 
hills and valleys. There, too, was the battle-scarred veteran, 
his empty coat-sleeve swaying to and fro in the morning 
breeze, as he stood conversing with an army comrade, specu- 
lating as to how much land "Uncle Sam" would give to 
" honorably-discharged soldiers." 

Half the States of the Union were represented in that as- 
sembly of settlers, but they were principally from Illinois, 
Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan, with an oc- 
casional Yankee from the far East, whose wit and sharp rep- 
artee presented a strong contrast to the "thee's" and "thou's" 
of one or two Quakers from the Keystone State. 

While eagerly watching for the office door to open for 
business, they manifested an unusual degree of interest, in- 
creased by the near prospect of securing a quarter-section of 
land, with a cabin in some cozy spot, enjoying a prospect of 
the beautiful landscape of the frontier. 

The door was opened — a shout — a rush — a scramble over 
each other — a confused shouting of the number of the range 
and township, as a half-dozen or more simultaneously pre- 
sented their papers to the officers, who, in the tumult, could 
as well have told which animal was the first taken into the 
ark, as to have designated which one of the settlers was prior 



136 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

in time with the presentation of his papers to the proper 
officer. One thing was manifest, however — the land office for 
the Republican Land District was open for business. 

I never shall forget that scene. The space outside the 
railing or counter was instantly filled with settlers, until there 
was scarcely standing room, and yet a very large number of 
the applicants failed to gain admittance. Throughout the 
entire day, during office hours, the number of applicants 
increased, and, at the close of business for the day, a large 
number had failed to gain admittance. The day's work 
footed up one hundred and six homesteads entered, and one 
hundred and eighty preemption declaratory statements filed. 
The officers and their clerks were obliged to work until a 
late hour at night to transcribe the business transacted 
through the day. The following day was a repetition of the 
previous one, and the rush continued for months. 

A plan was finally adopted by which, at the close of the 
office in the evening, a series of numbers, from one to nearly 
one hundred, were made upon a piece of paper, attached to 
the outside of the door, upon which the settlers wrote their 
names opposite the numbers. By this means only a certain 
number of applicants were admitted at one time, and the 
tumult and confusion of a promiscuous admission were 
avoided. 



THE LAND OFFICE. 137 

The good feeling that usually prevailed among the settlers 
was occasionally disturbed by the nefarious attempt of some 
^* new-comer" to ^^jump" a neighbor's claim, causing a "con- 
test," a land-office trial that will* hereafter be described. 

At the time of opening the office, there were located in 
Concordia several members of the bar, some of whom were 
experienced in practice in the courts, and others newly fledged 
limbs of the law. They at once entered upon a lucrative 
practice, in preparing papers for the settlers, trying contests 
and doing a general real-estate business, besides practicing in 
the courts. They were genial, social gentlemen, energetic and 
enterprising, and assisted in developing the country, the 
growth of the town, and causing time to pass swiftly and 
pleasantly away. 

In addition to the members of the bar, there were a num- 
ber of land agents, who were not lawyers in the legal con- 
templation of the term, but who prepared papers for the 
settlers and assisted in contest cases, usually by doing the 
"heavy sitting around," or drilling the witnesses while the 
lawyers tried the cases. They were what a granger would 
designate as "middle-men." Their success depended more 
upon their skill in soliciting business, than in their knowl- 
edge of the application of the land laws. Among the latter 
class, there was one of the most remarkable men whom I 



138 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

have met on the frontier. He was a large, finely-propor- 
tioned man, physically, with a powerful intellect — if it had 
been cultivated and given the right direction. When it 
pleased his fancy he could approach an individual with that 
graceful, fluent, courteous, gentlemanly address that would 
have been approved by Chesterfield, but back of which prob- 
ably lurked a sinister motive that sooner or later loomed up 
like a dark cloud to overshadow and darken the first favor- 
able impression. He differed from Brummel only as the 
frontier society differed from that of London at the time 
Brummel flourished. He could adapt himself to any avoca- 
tion, from that of preparing papers rapidly and correctly to 
a game of chance. His power as a solicitor was great, prin- 
cipally exerted in soliciting business on the street from every 
new arrival of settlers, borrowing money, or maneuvering 
for some favor at the hands of his friends. 

At times it seemed as though he and his conscience had 
dissolved partnership, and he would as soon charge a settler 
fifty dollars as fifty cents for making out papers, or watching 
for the return of cancellation of an entry. He spent his 
money freely, when he had any, and would as soon treat a 
wagon-load of settlers as one individual. He was never 
idle, and his energy was untiring. He constantly traveled 
the path from his office to the Land Office, when not en- 



THE LAND OFFICE. 13^ 

gaged in button-holing settlers and soliciting their business. 
He could drum up more business, charge larger fees with 
less compunctions of conscience, and indiscreetly spend more 
money, than any man who transacted business in the village. 

Withal he was kind, benevolent and charitable, and pos- 
sessed some noble qualities; but it appeared as though he 
never had time to call them into practical use during his fast 
life. Invariably when he received a large fee, he would hire 
the best "rig'' in the livery stable, and take his friends about 
the town, usually driving with that reckless indifference that 
ignored danger. 

He would pay his last farthing for a buffalo calf, antelope^ 
coyote, or prairie dog, and exhibit them gratis on the streets,, 
until his restless disposition demanded something new, or a 
change, when he would dispose of them for a trifle to any 
curious traveler who desired them. At length his short- 
comings became sufficiently apparent to induce the settlers to 
avoid him; his friends deserted him, and disposing of his 
claim near town, he hied him away to the north, leaving as 
the only memento of his industry the beautiful trees he 
planted and nurtured on his homestead, beneath the shade 
of which, on a pleasant Sunday, he celebrated his birthday 
with a few of his friends, with a keg of beer and the best 
viands to be had in the country. 



140 THE NOETHEEN TIEE. 

During the entire summer of 1871, each morning a crowd 
of settlers were assembled in front of the Land Office. White 
covered wagons blockaded the street, while the sun-tanned 
faces of the children were thrust out through the space be- 
tween the bow-supported cover and the wagon-box, audibly- 
wondering what delayed "pa,'^ to be answered by a kindly 
reprimand and words of caution from their mother, a care- 
worn but cheerful lady, the settler's wife, who patiently held 
with one hand the lines that guided the team, and with the 
other supported a rollicking babe, whose chubby limbs re- 
sembled perpetual motion in their effi)rts to be free. 

Meantime the settler mingled with the crowd, inquiring 
for Government land, or the best road westward, and the 
best camping-ground along the route. On the vacant lots, 
groups of settlers surrounded camp-fires, cooking their meals, 
smoking, and telling stories. One group was composed of 
soldiers who had served in different regiments of different 
States, rehearsing battle scenes, camp life, and exploits in 
which they had participated in defense of their country. 
Among another group the musical talents of several were 
displayed, while their voices rose above all other sounds on 
the morning air as they sang those memorable lines — 
'* Tramp ! tramp ! tramp ! the boys are marching," &c. 

The song, the story and jokes were indulged in largely as 



THE LAND OFFICE. 141 

they sat around the camp-fires; and if those scenes had their 
wild surroundings and appearance, they were pleasant ones, 
long to be remembered as the first accompaniments of settle- 
ment and civilization in the homestead region. 

As immigration increased, and the prospect for land to 
become more valuable improved, "claim-jumping'^ (the fron- 
tier term for contesting a settler's right to a tract of land ) 
became a frequent practice, and litigated cases were often tried 
in the Land Office to establish the rights of the parties. The 
trials differed from those in a court, in this — the Register 
and Receiver had no power to compel the attendance of wit- 
nesses, by subpena or other process, and the parties litigant 
were obliged to rely upon the voluntary appearance of their 
neighbors and friends as witnesses. The non-appearance of 
witnesses often furnished an excuse for motions for continu- 
ance, and the skirmishing of attorneys with long-drawn-out 
affidavits, containing fine-spun theories of justice and right, 
with negative averments, disclaiming any purpose of delay, 
formed the preliminary proceedings of contests that were often 
amusing. 

Some of the speeches of the attorneys on motions for con- 
tinuance were elaborate and eloquent, with quotations from 
Greenleaf and other law writers, and occasionally a portion 
of an effi^rt of some distinguished statesman was thrown in 



142 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

by way of an extra inducement for granting a continuance. 
The proceedings were not strictly confined to the rules of 
judicial practice at common law or by statute, but more lati- 
tude being given under the liberal practice, the attorneys 
were expert at availing themselves of the privilege. 

Frequently on the day of trial, before the hour fixed for the 
hearing, the parties and their friends would endeavor to settle 
the matter, by "wager of battle," outside the office. Such 
settlements differed from the ancient custom, in that the com- 
batants in contest cases never indulged in a more hazardous 
mode of warfare or battle than is incident to mere assault 
and battery. 

The transient character of the residence of many of the 
settlers, especially those without families, caused many con- 
tests, and the excuse given and means resorted to by the 
parties at the trials, as a reason for not having a more con- 
tinuous residence, were as numerous and varied as the adven- 
tures of Don Quixote. 

The testimony of the witnesses was reduced to writing by 
one of the local officers, or by a clerk selected and appointed 
for that purpose. The progress of the trial was often inter- 
rupted by the merriment of the attorneys and parties, caused 
by the ludicrous questions, witticisms and answers, the offi- 
cers having no power to sustain objections to frivolous ques- 



THE LAND OFFICE. 143 

tions. Many were the amusing scenes and incidents that 
transpired during the trial of cases in the Land Office during 
several years, but to describe them in detail would require a 
volume. 

The minute description of "dug-outs," pig-pens, "chicken- 
houses," and that inimitable structure — the " Kansas stable ; " 
the exact measurement of a certain piece of breaking; the 
examination-in-chief, cross-examination, reexamination, and 
the different number of times the witness was reexamined 
and cross-examined before he was permitted to leave the 
stand, were sufficient to tax one's patience as much as the 
carbuncles that decorated the person of the ancient, oriental 
shepherd. The only exhilarating influence during the mo- 
notonous proceedings was the occasional merriment caused 
by the jocularity of the attorneys and the retorts by the 
unhappy genius on the witness-stand. 

The scenes and incidents attending those trials would fur- 
nish material for several chapters, and properly belong to a 
description of life among the homestead settlers ; but I shall 
only allude to a portion of the evidence in two cases, partly 
to show some of the hardships the settlers endured, and the 
extremity to which parties resorted to procure and introduce 
testimony. 

One of the trials disclosed the hardships and endurance of 



144 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

the women among the settlers. A single lady, of uncertain 
age, had taken a homestead in company with her relatives 
and other settlers, and had been driven from her claim by 
Indians. After a short absence they returned, and while her 
relatives and the settlers harvested their grain, she cooked 
for them, and in the meantime hoed the patch of potatoes on 
her claim, being well armed, and on the lookout for Indians, 

"And she said she had a rifle, 
And a rattling pair of pistols." 

On the witness-stand she testified as follows : ^' I hoed my 
potatoes while I had two navy revolvers in a belt around my 
waist, and near by as good a rifle as ever was fired." 

"Had you been attacked by Indians, what would you have 
done?" inquired her attorney. 

"I would have fired my last shot and then fought with 
my hoe and rifle!" exclaimed the lady, emphatically; and, 
judging from her physical development, I think she could 
have given any two Indians a rough hand-to-hand fight. 
Though modest in her demeanor, at the trial, she exhibited 
marked evidence of courage and bravery in time of danger. 
A subsequent Indian raid had driven the settlers from their 
homestead claims a second time, and she failing to return to 
her claim within the period limited by law, the contest was 
brought to cancel her homestead entry. The local officers 



THE LAND OFFICE. 145 

and the department found, from the evidence, and so held, 
that being driven from her claim by the Indians was not a 
voluntary abandonment, and her homestead entry was per- 
mitted to remain intact upon the record. 

One amusing case tried before the local officers was known 
among the lawyers as the "Third Creek School House Case," 
so called from the fact that a school house known by that 
name was a prominent feature in the evidence adduced at the 
trial. The "dug-out" of the defendant stood near the school 
house, and during his absence formed a monumental play- 
ground and recess resort for the pupils. It had as much at- 
traction for the frontier school-boy, whose genius was hemmfed 
in by the pages of a spelling-book or first reader, as Bunker 
Hill monument has for a class in history or geometry in a 
select school in Boston. On one occasion, at recess or play- 
time, the school-boys were playing that now nearly obsolete 
game of ball called "Ante Over." The ball finally found a 
lodgment among the weeds and grass on the sod roof of the 
*^ dug-out," and a juvenile, expert at climbing, in attempting 
to procure the ball, fell through the roof to the dirt floor. A 
commotion was the result among the boys for the safety of 
their playmate, and they rushed into the "dug-out" to find 
him unharmed, save a few slight bruises. As that incident 

was fastened on their youthful minds, they were called as 
10 



146 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

witnesses in the contest, to prove the dilapidated condition of 
the "dug-out.'^ In the same case the defendant, disregarding 
the fourth commandment, was repairing the roof of his "dug- 
out'' while religious services were being held in the school 
house, and the minister and a number of his congregation 
were called as witnesses to prove that the defendant had for- 
feited his right to the land for working at his "dug-out" on 
Sunday. 

Many of those contests required several days to try them, 
and bring out all the testimony, under the liberal and un- 
limited rules and privileges governing the cases in the local 
office, and the settlers and spectators would sit for days on 
chairs or rough benches, paying eager attention to the reiter- 
ated statements of the witnesses, while they changed their 
tobacco quids from side to side, and bedewed the cottonwood 
floor and walls of the Land Office with copious expectora- 
tions of the infusion of "navy plug'' or fine cut. 

Such is a brief description of some of the daily scenes in 
and about the Land Office for several years after the office 
opened for business in the Republican Land District. 

The general good feeling and hilarity that prevailed among 
the settlers and lawyers, during those early frontier times, 
served to lighten the otherwise monotonous, weary hours of 
labor and fatigue passed by the local officers at the desk, 



THE LAND OFFICE. 147 

examining plats, tract-books and records, and answering the 
same questions many times during the business hours of each 
day. As the memory comes floating back from the past, of 
the kindly greeting of the settlers as they sat upon blocks of 
wood, rude benches, or lounged upon the prairie grass about 
the office, the anecdotes, jokes, stories and hilarity even now 
come welling up with a thousand other cherished recollec- 
tions of those early times, when the half-dozen cabins con- 
stituted the now thriving city of Concordia, when the antelope 
trotted leisurely across a portion of the town site, and the 
prairie dogs built their diminutive village, unscared, near 
where the railway depot now stands, surrounded with freight 
and ponderous machinery. 

Such are the progress and development of Northwestern 
Kansas. Though the result may have been secured by hard- 
ships, by weary days of travel in covered wagons over the 
horizon-bounded prairie, and lonely hours about the camp- 
fires at night, made more lonely and desolate by the howl of 
the coyote, it is the work of the settlers who endured the 
hardships, under that wise and beneficent act of Congress — 
"the Homestead Act." The memorials and lasting evidence 
of it all may be found in the records of the land offices for 
the Republican and Northwestern Land Districts. 



CHAPTER 12. 

THE DUG-OUT AND WEDDING. 

The primitive dwellings of the homestead settlers on the 
frontier, commonly called "dug-outs," deserve a passing no- 
tice. 

As they are temporary structures, hastily constructed by 
the settlers for the immediate use and present comfort of 
their families until more substantial residences can be erected, 
they will soon become relics of the past, a correct description 
of which can only be ascertained by reference to the evidence 
taken in litigated contest cases now on file in the General 
Land Office, unless some literary adventurer publishes an 
improved dictionary, or adds a new illustration to the subject 
of architecture in the American Cyclopedia. 

The moss-grown sod roofs and mildewed walls of the dif- 
ferent dug-outs on land that has been the subject of contest 
in the Land Office, have been so often described by wit- 
nesses pro and Gon, that their characteristics will not be for- 
gotten by the present generation of homestead settlers; but 
in order to perpetuate the recollection, I insert a brief de- 
scription for the benefit of those who in the future may desire 

(148) 



THE DUG-OUT AND WEDDING, 149 

to know the design or style of architecture that prevailed 
among the homestead settlers in the first settlement of the 
country. 

There were a few log cabins, but the scarcity of timber 
compelled economy to such an extent that the excavation in 
the hillside, with earth walls to shield the family from in- 
clement weather, composed the larger number of the tem- 
porary dwellings of the first settlers. There has scarcely 
been a litigated contest tried in the Land Office without its 
attendant minute description of a "dug-out," and the other 
indispensable requirements to establish a settler's right, viz. : 
pig-pen, chicken-house, corral, etc. 

The site for a "dug-out'' is generally selected on the side of 
a hill or ridge. An excavation is made twelve by fourteen 
feet, more or less — often less — with large forks set firmly in 
the ground at each angle, poles being laid across sufficiently 
strong to hold a heavy weight of sod for the roof. On the 
poles are laid puncheons, or boards if they can be procured, 
covered with prairie sod of a uniform thickness. I have 
seen prairie-grass, weeds and the sunflowers nodding in the 
wind, all growing on the sod roofs of " dug-outs." The front 
part of the structure is generally built of stone or logs, with 
spaces left for a door and one or more small windows. The 
floor is the earth leveled and smoothed with a spade. 



150 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

Many of those "dug-outs" during the first settlement of 
the country gave evidence of the refinement and culture of 
the inmates; they sheltered families who had "seen better 
days" and enjoyed pleasanter experiences than roughing it 
on the frontier. The wife had been reared in refinement and 
had moved in cultivated social circles in the older States, as 
shown by the neat and tastefully- arranged fixtures around 
the otherwise gloomy earth walls. The earth floor was 
neatly and cleanly swept, the walls were whitewashed, and 
upon them were pasted the newspapers that had been read by 
the family, among them the New York Ledger, Saturday Night, 
Fire-Side ComijanioUy and the Tribune, or other weeklies giv- 
ing general news, according to the State from which the 
family emigrated. A neatly polished shelf, supported by 
pins driven into the wall, contained the holiday gift books, 
album, and that indispensable household treasure, the family 
Bible. 

In one of those dug-outs which I visited on a certain rainy 
day, an organ stood near the window and the settler's wife 
was playing "Home! Sweet Home!" while the head of the 
house was half-soling his boots. With every household ar- 
ticle in its proper place; the earth floor neatly swept; the 
hospitable greeting by the settler and his wife extended to 
the casual visitor; a social hour passed with the settler and 



THE DUG-OUT AND WEDDING. 151 

his family, further sweetened by a good dinner, was a suffi- 
cient recompense for a visit to many such "dug-outs." 
The genuine hospitality, the evidences of refinement and 
culture which surrounded many of those sod-roofed dwell- 
ings, furnished ample proof that the spirit of the frontier 
settlers was invincible — that they were capable of extend- 
ing a desirable civilization into the wilderness, far from 
the scenes amidst which they had been reared — and that 
by industry they would convert the waste places into fields of 
of plenty, and cause them to bloom like the gardens of beauty. 

On Sunday mornings, when the bright summer's sunshine 
had dispelled the dew from the prairie-grass, the mother has 
stood at the threshold of the "dug-out" and watched her 
neatly but plainly dressed children, as hand in hand they 
disappeared across the prairie to attend Sabbath school in the 
district school house, and piously committed their safety to 
the care of Providence. They were her jewels, and she had 
bright hopes of their future happiness and success, though 
they were reared on the frontier. 

Though primitive in architecture, the "dug-outs" of North- 
western Kansas have been refuges for many families when 
portions of the country have been visited by tornadoes, that 
occasionally sweep over the plains with resistless power, de- 
stroying farm-houses and villages. While more pretentious 



/y 



152 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

dwellings and barns in the track of the tornadoes, have been 
utterly demolished and swept away, with great destruction 
of life and property, the inmates of *^ dug-outs" have escaped 
injury, and the modest structures have withstood the fury of 
the storms. They constitute a safe and convenient refuge dur- 
ing such convulsions; and when a more substantial and 
elegant residence is erected by the settler, the old "dug-out'' 
should be permitted to stand, not only as an interesting me- 
mento, but as a safe retreat in case of a threatened disaster 
from the elements. 

I was invited by a settler to visit one of those "dug-outs'' 
and witness the marriage of his daughter. " Be sure and 
come," said the hospitable farmer and his wife, as they de- 
parted from town, with a goodly portion of provisions to be 
transformed into a wedding dinner. It was a mild October 
day, and committing the care of the office to the Register and 
clerks, I shook the dust of Concordia from my feet, and rode 
into the country to attend the wedding at the "dug-out" of 
my friend. 

His primitive mansion was situated at the base of a ridge, 
surrounded with a beautiful grove of his own planting. As 
I rode up the lane, on one side was a corn-field, the frosted 
blades rustling in the wind, and the weedless ground was 
checkered with gold-colored sweet pumpkins; on the op- 



TH^. DUG-OUT AND WEDDING. 153 

posite side was a corral in which several well-fed milch cows 
stood lazily, or leisurely walked towards the watering-trough 
at the sound of the creaking of the well-wheel, denoting that 
it was the time for moistening their capacious stomachs with 
nature's beverage. As I approached the dwelling my friend 
was issuing his commands to the playful children, while 
caring for the teams that had arrived ; while his wife and a 
couple of neighbor ladies were dextrously plucking the 
feathers from the body of a large turkey and other fowls, 
and the prospective bride, blushing and happy, was receiving 
her lady friends. Beneath the branches of the grove was 
a sward of blue-grass, sown and cultivated by the settler. 
After caring for the teams, he showed me his farm, his fields 
and his improvements, closing his conversation b}^ avowing 
his determination to build a more substantial residence in 
the near future. 

The hilarity of the guests upon arrival, evidenced that 
they were thorough partakers of the genuine enjoyment of 
witnessing a wedding on the frontier. The whole scene was 
one of happiness and pleasure. 

A number of the neighbors and friends of the parties had 
arrived, conspicuous among whom was the officiating cler- 
gyman, the Rev. Romulus Pintus Westlake, with the 



154 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

conventional plug-hat shading his manly brow, his bland 
countenance wreathed in happy smiles. 

I will not attempt to assume the role and claim the privi- 
lege of the professional "Jenkins," who frequents places of 
fashionable resort to describe stunning toilets and print per- 
sonal gossip; but let this suffice for a description of the 
toilets of the homestead wedding party : that the neat calico 
dresses and sun -shade hats of the ladies, and the cheap 
but durable raiment of the gentlemen, were in harmony 
with the times, and with the plain domestic spirit that pre- 
vailed in the homestead region. The hour having arrived 
for the ceremony, the "dug-out" being found inadequate to 
accommodate the assembly, an adjournment to the grove was 
carried unanimously. The Rev. Romulus appeared to be in 
his natural element, supremely happy, prefacing the ceremony 
with a flow of eloquence, and an elaborate allusion to the 
happy union about to be consummated beneath the canopy of 
heaven, according to the institutions and laws of God and 
man. After he had pronounced the parties man and wife, he 
proceeded, in an impressive manner, to give them some gratu- 
itous advice as to their marital obligations, throwing in some 
camp-meeting phrases concerning their duty to lead Christian 
lives, such as, " Train up your children, while young, in the 



THE DUG-OUT AND WEDDING. 155 

way they should go, and when they become old they will not 
depart from it/' and kindred benevolent injunctions! Good 
advice, I thought, but rather premature. 

During the delivery of this exhortation, Romulus became 
so impressed with his subject, that with the surrounding scene 
and his anxiety for the happiness of the entire assembly, he 
appeared to be entranced, as though suddenly inspired by the 
thought that he was in the midst of a wedding revival, sim- 
ilar in excitement to a camp-meeting outpouring. His 
musical and earnest voice rang out clear on the autumn 
breeze to the remotest portion of the assembly, and these are 
some of his expressions : 

"Are there not more of the young people in this crowd 
who desire to be made as happy as this couple, by uniting in 
the holy bonds of wedlock? If so, now is the accepted time. 
Let them come forth to the altar of conjugal bliss and em- 
brace the present opportunity to be made happy.'' 

That appeal seemed to produce an electrical eifect, as a 
couple of swains stepped forth from their seats, each leading 
by the hand a blushing damsel, with whom they had previ- 
ously commenced a preliminary courtship. 

At this juncture in the proceedings Esquire O , a ven- 
erable homestead settler, rose and objected, when a contro- 
versy occurred between him and Romulus, the 'Squire saying: 



166 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

"I have been Jestice of the Peace two terras, and the statut 
of Kansas does not 'low any one to marry without fust gittin* 
a license, and as I am a Jestice of the Peace, and by virtoo of 
my office as a peace officer it is my hounden duty to object to 
these young people being married without fust gittin' a 
license." 

Eomulus replied: 

"'Squire, I can marry them, and they can afterwards pro- 
cure the license, for human events are uncertain, and when a 
woman is once in the notion of marrying, if she is disappointed 
she may not again consent to marry the man to whom she is 
first engaged, and should that be the misfortune of either of 
these young men, they may drift away on the sea of despair or 
commit the unpardonable sin of suicide. Remember, 'Squire, 
that you and I were once young." 

The 'Squire replied, earnestly: 

"I say the p'int o' the business is, the statut requires the 
license shall be issued before the marriage can be permitted, 
and it is my bounden duty, as a Jestice of the Peace, to see 
that the law is not violated." 

"'Squire, I can marry them, and the license can be issued 
and dated back. I have known marriage licenses to be dated 
back under less favorable circumstances than those surround- 
ing these young people." 



THE DUG-OUT AND WEDDING. 157 

The 'Squire still persisted in his objections, and the matter 
was finally submitted to me. . I promptly decided that the 
Justice was right, when Romulus yielded, and advised the 
young men to ^'hold the fort" until they could procure the 
license, and he would then marry them free of charge. 

In due time the tables were spread in the grove, and dinner 
announced. Such a dinner! It seemed that culinary skill 
had been taxed to the utmost to prepare the bountiful repast 
spread before the assembly — roast turkey, pyramids of cake, 
columns of pumpkin pies, superb coffee, goblets of sweet 
milk, neatly indented rolls of choice butter, &c., &c. But 
why describe it? To appreciate such a dinner, one must be 
seated at the table and assist in dispatching it. I could 
verify my description of it by the affidavit of the Rev. Rom- 
ulus, whose fondness for good dinners was signally displayed 
on that occasion. I became alarmed lest he might injure his 
health, as large portions of the turkey rapidly succumbed to 
his voracious appetite. My astonishment increased, however, 
when he attacked a column of pumpkin pies, and created sad 
havoc among the jelly dishes and other dessert. 

Dinner over, the fiddler took a position on a bench under 
the shade of the trees, and the young people quickly formed 
for the customary dance. A number of the middle-aged 



158 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

men and women joined in the quadrille, and seemed to have 
renewed their youth as they tripped lightly to the inspiring 
music. 

The Rev. Romulus became silent and thoughtful, and 
uttering some partially incoherent remarks about the way- 
wardness of mankind, called for his horse. I insisted on his 
remaining until the quadrille was ended, when we could say 
farewell to our host and the bride and bridegroom, and as an 
extra inducement intimated that at the close of the cere- 
mony he had omitted to salute the happy couple. I also 
urged that after taking leave of our friends I would accom- 
pany him, as our route homeward was in the same direction 
for several miles. 

Meantime the dance progressed. The whole scene was 
one of enjoyment. The music, borne by the breeze to every 
part of the grove, and interrupted only by the clarion voice 
of the prompter, created a marked sensation of pleasure. A 
group of elderly ladies gossiped as they watched the agile 
movements of the young men, and graceful, modest prome- 
nading of the young ladies. A stalwart settler, leaning 
against a tree, declared to a neighbor that, " no new got-up 
cotillion could compare with the ^ old Virginia reel/ when he 
and the old woman were young." 



THE DUO-OUT AND WEDDINO. 159 

The healthful, blushing faces of the ladies, and sun-tanned 
features of the gentlemen, when dancing, were radiant indices 
of genuine pleasure and happiness. 

Komulus assumed an air of sadness, and addressing me 
said, "The human heart is as prone to evil as the sparks to 
fly upward." As we rode down the lane his wit and humor 
revived, and when we separated beyond a grove, his musical 
voice rang out clear on the evening air as he sang, '^When I 
can read my title clear," etc. 

I could but reflect that, though eccentric, he possessed a 
noble heart, and the cause of Christianity was in trustworthy 
keeping within the boundaries of his circuit on the frontier. 



CHAPTER 13. 

THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 

What induced the map-makers and atlas-publishers, within 
the last quarter of a century, to designate any part of North- 
western Kansas as a part of the American Desert, is a mystery 
to every immigrant and homestead settler who has penetrated 
this region. It was laid down on the map as a desert waste. 
During that period, however, it was watered by beautiful 
streams, and covered with grass, on which thousands of buf- 
falo fed, flourished, grew old and died, or were killed by 
Indians. 

Prior to the year 1870 that part west of the sixth princi- 
pal meridian had but few settlers; few had ventured beyond 
that limit, a few miles west of which was the traditional 
dead-line of the Indians. The country was considered by 
hunters and travelers as a barren waste, subject to drouth 
and to murderous raids of hostile Indians. It had borne a 
bad name as to its capacity to support a population. In 
1868 and 1869 the State officers cooperated with the Gen- 
eral Government, and put a stop to the Indian incursions by 

(160) 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 161 

maintaining troops at points on the Republican and Solomon 
rivers. 

No Indian attacks were made on the Republican and Solo- 
mon valleys after the summer of 1870. By the time the 
X/and Office was established and opened for business at Con- 
cordia, the tide of immigration was immense into that part 
of the homestead region west of the sixth principal merid- 
ian. The buffalo and elk fled westward at the sight of the 
white-covered wagons and camp-fires of the settlers. The 
Indian warriors looked for the last time upon their favorite 
hunting-ground, while civilization advanced and occupied 
their ancestral homes on the great plains. 

In spring-time the scene presented to the immigrants was 
one of vernal beauty. The principal streams in the home- 
stead region are the Republican and Solomon rivers. Their 
tributaries are numerous, all more or less skirted with timber, 
attracting the immigrants to settle along their shady banks 
after their weary journey from the older States; and during 
the summers of 1871 and 1872, camp-fires at night lighted 
the landscape all along White Rock, Prairie Dog, Limestone, 
Buffalo, Pipe and Asher creeks. Little Blue, Mill creek and 
other streams had furnished shady retreats and camping- 
ground, in earlier times, when their borders were the frontier. 

The Republican river rises in Colorado, thence running into 

11 



162 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

Nebraska for nearly two hundred miles, thence into Kansas 
in a southeasterly course until it unites with the Smoky Hill 
and forms the Kansas river, near Junction City. 

The Solomon river has two branches, commonly called the 
North and South forks, rising near the west line of the State^ 
and forming the main stream near Cawker City. 

But why describe those streams, when every homestead 
settler and traveler has wandered up and down their banks, 
and when flaming maps of that region decorate the depots of 
the Central Branch Railway Co., hotels and real-estate offices, 
in localities where, but a few years ago, the buffalo ranged 
undisturbed? 

It was formerly said by the hunters, trappers and plains- 
men that the country drained by the Republican and Solo- 
mon contained poor soil, only capable of producing buffalo 
grass, and only fit for the habitation of Indians, and as a 
grazing-ground for buffalo. I have a distinct recollection 
that when a school-boy my atlas designated this region as a 
part of the American Desert. Settlement and cultivation 
have shown that instead of its being a barren plain, the soil 
is fertile and the country well watered and comparatively 
well timbered, capable of supporting a vast population of 
industrious, enterprising people, with sufficient water-power 
for extensive manufacturing enterprises. Why the country 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 163 

received such a description as, "a barren, treeless plain," by 
the early travelers across the plains, is a mystery, when as 
far back as 1842 Col. John C. Fremont, who passed up the 
Republican river its entire length, gave a graphic and cor- 
rect description. 

"We arrived," says Fremont, "on July 8, at the mouth 
of the Republican. For several days we continued to travel 
along the Republican, through a country beautifully watered 
with numerous streams, handsomely timbered, and rarely an 
incident occurred to vary the monotonous resemblance which 
one day on the prairie here bears to another, and which 
scarcely requires a particular description. Now and then we 
caught sight of a small band of elk, and occasionally a band 
of antelope, whose curiosity sometimes brought them within 
rifle range, would circle round us and then scour off to the 
prairies. 

"The bottoms, from the immediate valley of the main river, 
were generally about three miles wide, having a rich soil of 
black vegetable mould, and were well interspersed with wood. 
The country was everywhere covered with a considerable 
variety of grasses, occasionally poor and thin, but far more 
frequently luxuriant and rich. 

" We have been gradually and regularly ascending in our 
progress westward. On the evening of the 14th, when we 



164 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

encamped on a little creek near the valley of the Republican, 
two hundred and sixty-five miles by our traveling road from 
the mouth of the Kansas, we were at an elevation of 1,500 
feet. 

"At noon on the 23d we descended into the principal fork 
of the Republican, a beautiful stream with a dense border of 
wood, consisting principally of varieties of ash. The stream 
was forty feet wide and four feet deep. It was musical with 
the notes of many birds, which, from the vast expanse of silent 
prairie around, seemed all to have collected here. We con- 
tinued during the afternoon our route along the river, which 
was populous with prairie-dogs, the bottoms being entirely 
occupied with their villages, and late in the evening we 
encamped on its banks. 

"The prevailing timber is blue-foliaged ash, and ash- 
leafed maple. With these were cottonwood, and long-leafed 
willow." 

Such was Fremont's description of the Republican valley 
in 1842. 

Nearly parallel with this valley to the south, within less 
than the distance of a day's journey, was the Solomon valley 
with its wide bottoms, fertile but undeveloped soil, timber- 
bordered creeks, luxuriant grass — a valley in its native 
beauty. 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 165 

At the time Mr. Greeley made his stage-coach trip through 
to Denver, he passed along the divide between the Solomon 
and Republican, and did not examine or explore to any ex- 
tent the valleys and tributary streams. Hastily passing 
over the country, without making a careful observation, 
he reiterated the old prejudice against the plains and the 
country through which he traveled. Had he passed up 
either the Republican or Solomon valleys and taken time to 
make minute observations, doubtless he would have arrived 
at a diflPerent conclusion as to the character of the country, its 
soil, timber, water, etc. 

Prior to the settlement of these valleys, the whole country 
drained by the Republican and Solomon rivers and their 
tributaries was a plain of surpassing loveliness in natural 
beauty, with a luxuriant growth of buffalo and bunch- 
grass — the best grazing-ground in the West, upon which 
vast herds of buffalo fed at will, while the great antlered elk, 
deer and fleet antelope roamed over the prairies, or browsed 
amid the thickets of wild plum bushes at the base of the 
gradual elevations. No streams on the plains at that time 
ompared with the tributaries of the Republican and Solo- 
mon for timber. 

On the bottoms were groves of oak, ash, cotton wood, elm 



166 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

and walnut. The smaller streams were more or less skirted 
with timber, not tall and stately trees like those that fell by 
the strokes of the woodman's ax in the early settlement of 
Ohio and Indiana, but timber, although of an inferior quality, 
yet forming beautiful groves on the extensive prairies, as 
if designed to furnish camping-ground and shady resting- 
places for weary travelers across the plains. 

When the settlers penetrated this region they found it as 
Fremont had described it, and all their hopes of a grand 
country were realized when they beheld these valleys and 
plains stretching out before them, well watered and compara- 
tively well timbered, awaiting development by industry and 
enterprise. 

This region in many localities is supplied with magnesian 
limestone, white as marble or of a light gray or yellow color. 
It is easily worked when taken from the quarry, and can be 
sawed with a hand-saw and dressed with a carpenter's plane, 
but becomes hard and durable on being exposed to the at- 
mosphere. This limestone formation contains the remains of 
petrified fish, sea-shells and bones of marine animals, sur- 
rounded with the formation composing the strata of rock. 

Coal abounds in Cloud and Republic counties, of lignite 
variety; it makes good fuel, and is used extensively in the 
surrounding country. 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 167 

Within this region are situated the salt marshes of Kan- 
sas. Professor Mudge in his Geological Report of 1866 says : 

" The great supply of salt which is to meet the demand 
for Kansas and the neighboring States lies at various points 
in a tract of country about thirty-five miles wide and eighty 
long, crossing the Republican, Solomon and Saline valleys. 
The signs of the deposits are seen in numerous springs, but 
more frequently in extensive salt marshes.'^ 

The largest marshes are in Jewell and Republic counties. 
The great marsh in Jewell county from a distance resembles 
a small lake with white, crusted shores. The salt water 
evaporates, forming a crust of pure salt on the shore, which 
at all times in dry weather can be scraped up and used by 
the settlers. About this marsh a large number of cattle are 
herded for grazing purposes each summer by the stock-raisers 
and settlers in the vicinity. During the spring and autumn 
large flocks of wild-geese, brant and wild-ducks are about 
the marsh, generally remaining about two months during 
their migrations north and south, furnishing the best wing- 
shooting for sportsmen any where in the State. Let a gunner 
secrete himself on the shore of the marsh, either in spring- 
time or autumn, and watch the large flocks of wild-geese, 
blue and white brant, sailing around as if reconnoitering 
the position, while the "quack, quack ^' of the wild-ducks 



168 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

mingles with the incessant sonorous gabble of the geese, as 
they splash into the water, or waddle amid the tall grass^ 
water-lilies and weeds along the margin, and he will be de- 
lighted with the scene and rewarded with an abundance of 
game if he is a good shot on the wing. 

It is only a question of time and capital when these 
marshes, instead of being grazing-ground for stock, and hunt- 
ing-ground for sportsmen, will be utilized by the manufacture 
of salt for the western market; and when the Central Branch 
Union Pacific Railway is extended to Denver, as it doubtless 
will be, I am of opinion that large quantities of salt will be 
made and shipped from Northwestern Kansas to the Rocky 
Mountain market. 

The Republican river derived its name from the "Pawnee 
Republic," the seat of empire of the Pawnee Indians for 
ages, on the head-waters of that river. The Pawnees were 
once a powerful tribe, and their warriors hunted the buffalo 
in all this region west of the Big Blue river, in the distant 
past, and moored their canoes along the Republican, from its 
source to its mouth, and danced their war-dance in the groves 
bordering that stream and its tributaries long before white 
men had set foot upon this soil, save the followers of Coro- 
nado, who marched across the country three centuries ago, 
Wacanda, or the "Great Spirit Spring," situated on the 



TBE HOMESTEAD REGION, 169 

north bank of the Solomon, a few miles below the forks of 
that stream, was a consecrated spot among the Indians, where 
they repaired, under the direction of their prophets or medi- 
cine-men, and worshiped and sacrificed to the "Great Spirit '^ 
by various ceremonies, throwing into the spring arrow-heads, 
trinkets and other tribal trophies. 

I give the following description of the spring from the 
"Homestead Guide," written and published by that frontier 
writer and explorer, F. G. Adams, Esq., the present worthy 
Secretary of the State Historical Society : 

"Three miles below the forks of the Solomon, and about the same dis- 
tance from Cawker City, is the 'Great Spirit Spring,' a mineral well, situ- 
ated in a natural mound of rock of calcareous tufa, thirty feet high and 
fifty yards across at its base. The mound is not so steep at its sides but 
that a carriage can be driven to the top of it, and around the well, which is 
in the center, and a rod across. 

"This is a wonderful natural mound, though geologists are familiar with 
the manner of its formation. The water, as it comes up from the bowels 
of the earth, holds in solution various mineral substances. Iron, salt, car- 
bonate of lime, &c., (chiefly carbonate of lime,) coming to the surface and 
flowing over the ground, in contact with the air, the mineral matter is de- 
posited on the surface of the ground, the flow bringing new particles of 
such matter constantly. These particles become concreted together, form- 
ing rock. 

"In the case of the 'Spirit Spring' the rock lies in plates, or layers, a 
hand's thickness and less, the plates lying so loosely one above another 
that in many places the water of the spring percolates through between 
them, oozing out at the sides of the mound, and running down, forming 
oblique or perpendicular lamina, concealing the edges of the horizontal 



170 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

layers. In many places, where the water now oozes out, crystals of salt 
and alkaline matter are found. 

*'The 'Spirit Spring' mound has doubtless been in process of formation 
since the subsidence of the sea, which covered this region in a former geo- 
logical period. 

"The 'Great Spirit Spring' is a singular curiosity." 

I visited this spring in the summer of 1872, and found it 
as described by Mr. Adams in his " Homestead Guide." 

In the far-distant past this region was doubtless a salt- 
water sea, the high points and bluffs small islands, about the 
shores of which were vast quantities of oysters and shell-fish, 
as indicated by the impress of shells found in the limestone 
quarries on the tops and slopes of the highest hills; while fish 
changed to stone, sharks' teeth and remains of sea-animals 
are found in the rock. 

From these indications I am of opinion that the sea was 
shallow in depth, with sedgy, marshy shores, and the climate 
at a high temperature, as there is abundant evidence that the 
large saurian crocodile existed here during that period. It is 
possible, if not probable, that when the eruption threw up 
the Rocky Mountain range, it caused the water of this sea to 
subside and flow to the eastward, thus forming the channels 
of the rivers that flow into the Missouri. 

As the place forming the sea gradually filled up with the 
soil of the higher points, carried down by the action of the 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 171 

water, vegetation, consistiDg of grass and plants, sprang up, 
and that which was once a sea gradually became a plain, cov- 
ered with vegetation, over which the "mammoth" roamed at 
will prior to the ice period. 

The past history of this region is a matter of speculation, 
as the traditions of the Indians only reach back a few centu- 
ries, at most, and the first white men who traversed this 
country doubtless were the followers of Coronado, in his 
search for gold in 1541. 

That adventurer marched from Mexico, in a northeasterly 
direction, across what is now the State of Kansas, crossing 
the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers near Junction City, 
going as far east as Nemaha county. I am of opinion that 
on his return he marched directly west from Nemaha county, 
crossing the Big Blue, and penetrated the country watered 
by the Republican and Solomon rivers. 

The old Spanish fort — -the remains of which still exist — 
near Jewell City, on the bank of a branch of Buffalo creek, 
in my judgment was built by Coronado, either for winter 
quarters during severe cold weather, or as a defense against 
the powerful tribe of Pawnee Indians, whose seat of empire 
or republic he was then approaching. There is little doubt 
in my mind that Coronado built this ancient fort for defense 



172 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

against a siege by the Indians, or as a rendezvous while he 
explored the surrounding country in search of gold. It may 
possibly have been built by Dutisne, the French explorer 
from New Orleans, who in 1719 marched across what is 
now the State of Kansas, from the southeast to the northwest 
portion, as far north as the fortieth parallel — some distance 
north of this ancient fort. It is designated the "Old Spanish 
Fort," upon the supposition that it was built by Coronado. 

Whether my theory of its origin is correct or not, the re- 
mains of this ancient fort constitute an interesting relic of 
the past. The country drained by the Republican and Sol- 
omon and their tributaries abounds in fossil remains of rare 
value, and many souvenirs of the past doubtless will be 
found by geologists upon careful examination. 

In some localities petrified wood is found, and bird-tracks 
and the impress of the leaves of forest trees are discovered in 
the brown sandstone strata in Cloud and Washington coun- 
ties. I have seen a number of fish that have changed to the 
limestone usually found in the rock that has been quarried. 
At what period of the world's existence the fish, now become 
stone, existed, or the petrified woods found in this region 
were parts of growing trees, with branches and leaves, is a 
matter of speculation in my judgment, a problem which I 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION, 173 

am desirous of submitting to the geologists; but I am en- 
tirely satisfied of one fact — that this country was a sea in the 
far-distant past. 

The bones of a mastodon were found in Jewell county a 
few years ago. A few miles south of Concordia, in Cloud 
county, on Pipe creek, a number of pieces of crockery were 
found one foot or more under the surface of the 'ground. 
Some of the pieces had been neatly and tastefully decorated 
by cross-lines and a raised border or flange around the rim of 
the vessel, while other fragments or pieces showed that the 
vessels of which they formed a part were plain, not showing 
the ornamental carving. From their appearance the urns, 
of which these fragments formed a part, were made from a 
kind of clay found in the bottom of the creek, and dried in 
the sun, or burned to a proper solidity for use. Whether 
they were made by the mound builders or a wandering por- 
tion of the ancient tribes that inhabited Southern Colorado 
and New Mexico, is a matter of conjecture. A large spear- 
head made of blue flint was found in the locality where the 
fragments of crockery were discovered. As there is no stone 
of that character in this region, it was doubtless imported by 
a neighboring tribe, or perchance it may have been the 
weapon of some youthful prince or hero from the village of 
the mound builders on the banks of the Missouri, on a visit, 



174 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

or perhaps wooing a dusky maiden in the tent of a dis- 
tinguished ruler, in Nature's beautiful grove, long since 
defaced and destroyed by the winding course and irregular 
current of the waters of Pipe creek. 

This whole region, from the Big Blue river to the western 
boundary of the State, is a prairie country of surpassing 
loveliness, with the usual number of groves of timber found 
in any part of the State. 

In addition to the fossil remains and petrifications, the salt 
marshes and coal formations, the face of the country and 
landscape scenes present some beautiful views. 

The "Twin Mounds," so called, on the head-waters of 
Elm creek, in Cloud county, consist of two conic elevations 
higher than the surrounding country, from the summits of 
which a fine view is had for many miles, overlooking a vast 
area of undulating prairie, checkered here and there with 
fields and farm-houses, and from which points a beautiful 
and extended view is had of the Republican valley. 

Just west of Jewell City, in Jewell county, is a high point, 
from the summit of which a very extensive and beautiful 
view may be had of the surrounding country. To the north 
the outlines of the timber and valley of White Rock creek 
are visible, and to the eastward the timber on Marsh creek 
and the dim outlines marking the course of the Republican, 



THE HOMESTEAD REGION. 175 

can be seen; while to the south the timber skirting the Solo- 
mon is distinctly visible, and far to the southwest the blue, 
smoky appearance indicates the outlines of the Blue Hills; 
and directly west from this elevated spot may be seen the 
bluffs overshadowing the Limestone creek, the most beautiful 
of the small streams in this region. Below this point, in 
Jewell county, and stretching away in every direction, is the 
level or undulating prairie, of fertile soil, rapidly being con- 
verted into farms, groves and orchards, and dotted with 
dwellings and school-houses. It is a magnificent view, and 
ere the surrounding natural scenery is disturbed by the 
necessities of industry and enterprise it will compensate any 
pleasure-seeking adventurer to visit that point and view the 
surrounding country. 

On the south bank of White Rock creek, in the north- 
west part of Jewell county, is an elevation or cone, com- 
monly called the Chalk Mound, owing to a large amount of 
the soft, white magnesian limestone on its surface. It is a 
curiosity, a single elevation rising abruptly from the plain, 
surrounded with the best of agricultural land. It may be 
seen from a considerable distance. 

In all of the counties through which the Solomon river 
and its two main branches, the North and South forks, flow, 
are natural curiosities, among which scientific explorers and 



176 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

geological students might readily find specimens of value, 
and formations that would be interesting. The Blue Hills ; 
the elevations, commanding extensive views; the limestone 
formations; the coal formations ; the salt marshes ; the Great 
Spirit Spring ; the landscape and natural scenery ; and last 
but not least, the extensive tract of valuable agricultural 
land in Northwestern Kansas — all these distinguish the 
^* Homestead Region " as a peculiarly attractive portion of the 
State. 



CHAPTER 14. 

LEW CASSIL, THE TKAPPER. 

The wild wanderings and daring exploits of trappers, 
hunters and scouts on the plains have furnished the basis, 
real or fictitious, of many of the romances in "yellow-cov- 
ered" literature, "dime novels" and story contributions in 
newspapers, while many a bold adventurer has lived and died 
unknown, save through a brief account of his death related 
by some friend, or by his name perchance figuring in a list of 
victims of some Indian massacre. 

One among those who have thus perished on the plains of 
Kansas, and whose name deserves to be embalmed in any 
truly historic sketch of the Republican and Solomon valleys, 
was Lew Cassil, the trapper and hunter. 

It was late in autumn, and the early frosts of October had 
touched the leaves of the trees and bushes that grew along 
Elk creek, near the east line of Cloud county. The evening 
air was cool and bracing as the sun disappeared behind the 
western plains, partially obscured by the hazy smoke of an 
12 (177) 



178 THE NOBTHERN TIER, 

Indian summer evening in Kansas. It was the autumn of 
1860, when but few settlers had crossed the Blue river. 

On a high ridge to the east of Elk creek, overlooking the 
valley of the Republican, stood a powerfully-developed man, 
perhaps thirty years of age, dressed in the usual garb of a 
hunter and trapper, holding in one hand a rifle, while the 
other caressed the neck of a well-formed, but jaded black 
horse. The belt around the waist of the hunter contained 
two large revolvers, while the traps fastened at each end of a 
rope thrown across the saddle, and the roll of blankets 
attached to the saddle, showed that the owner was a trapper. 

Reader, this is no love story, for there is no woman men- 
tioned in the entire narrative. 

Lew Cassil, for such was the person I have attempted to 
describe, had traveled on horseback from Southwestern Min- 
nesota to trap beaver and pursue his love of adventure on 
the Republican and Solomon rivers. 

Below, on the east bank of the creek, stood the small cabin 
of Moses Heller, who had ventured farther westward in 
Northern Kansas than any other settler. As the sun sank 
behind the western horizon, Cassil was in the act of mount- 
ing his horse and proceeding to the cabin on the bank of the 
creek, when he discovered a volume of smoke ascending from 
a point on the west bank about a mile above the cabin ; and 



LEW CASSIL, THE TRAPPER. 179 

upon closer observation he saw a large body of Indians in 
camp preparing their evening meal. 

"There is deviltry in that out-fit," said Lew, "and afore 
mornin' they are sartin to steal something from the settler in 
that cabin, fur it's the natur of an Indian to steal ; or I 'low 
they'll do worse than that — maybe they will kill and scalp 
the old ones and take the kids prisoners. There's no 
trustin' a red-skin, accordin' to my knowledge of human na- 
tur', if they are human, and it is Lew Cassil as has his doubts 
on that pint. Come, Raven," addressing his horse, "let's go 
down to the cabin, and while you're fodderin' I'll notify the 
boss of that crib of the copper-colored countenances that are 
likely to be peekin' through his winder 'afore mornin', and 
lend him a helpin' hand, if need be, fur its not in the natur' 
of Lew Cassil to desert a friend, or leave the cabin of a 
settler when there is danger near ; " and thereupon he mounted 
his black horse and rode down to the cabin, where he was 
met and kindly welcomed by the owner, Mr. Heller. 

After an exchange of greetings, and the horse had been 
provided for, Mr. Heller invited Cassil to enter his cabin and 
accept his hospitality. Cassil immediately informed his host 
of the near proximity of the Indians, and offered his ser- 
vices to assist in defending the cabin should an attack be 



180 THE NOETHEBN TIER. 

made; but the stalwart settler replied that the Indians had 
been hunting during the day up the valley, by the report of 
their guns, and he did not think they would molest him — yet 
Cassil observed that the settler manifested some anxiety. 

When they retired for the night, Cassil persisted in sleep- 
ing under his blankets near his horse. Raven, as he feared 
the Indians might steal him during the night. On the fol- 
lowing morning, after Cassil had eaten breakfast with the 
hospitable settler, and while they were discussing the location 
of the streams that flowed into the Republican and Solomon, 
and the prospect for trapping beaver therein, they suddenly 
found themselves surrounded by a large band of Indians, 
who said, through their interpreter, that they wanted to have 
a talk with the " big man," meaning Heller. They said they 
wanted him to tell all the white men the boundary line of 
the Indians' hunting-ground in the Republican and Solomon 
valleys — that all the country west of a certain line was the 
hunting-ground of the Indians, and that the whites must 
not hunt or extend their settlements beyond it. 

"Where is that dead-line?" said Cassil to the interpreter. 

As near as the interpreter could describe it, it crossed the 
Solomon, north and south, near the mouth of Pipe creek; 
thence, by way of the creek, over the divide to the head of 



LEW CASSIL, THE TRAPPER. 181 

Wolf creek, in Cloud county ; thence down to the Eepubli- 
can river; and thence northeast to the mouth of the Big 
Sandy, in Nebraska. 

"Well, Mr. Interpreter, or Ingen, or whatever you call 
yourself," said Lew, "you tell your copper-colored compan- 
ions that I am an American citizen, and that my father fit 
under Jackson at New Orleans; and I intend to trap beaver 
and hunt on the Republican and Solomon, and don't propose 
to be hemmed in by any dead-lines, guide-posts or other In- 
gen humbugs!" 

Heller endeavored to check Cassil, but to no avail. 

The Indians observed Cassil closely, and one of them be- 
gan to examine his horse and traps, when Lew, by a trick he 
had learned his horse, caused him to kick at and bite the In- 
dian, who narrowly escaped, and as he rejoined his compan- 
ions he shook his tomahawk and bow at Cassil, as much as 
to say : " I meet you sometime ! " 

Cassil continued to trap and hunt during the winter season, 
and during the summer spent a portion of his time either at 
Mr. Heller's, Mr. Brooks's, or at the residence of Mr. Haines, 
then residing at what is now the town of Clifton, working 
in the field for those men, or scouting in the vicinity when 
Indian raids were feared, and each autumn going upon his 
usual bufialo hunt farther westward. 



182 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

In the fall of 1862 Cassil was joined, at Clifton, by a trap- 
per from Illinois, who had an outfit and traps, and soon an 
attachment existed between them only known and appreci- 
ated by trappers and hunters. Meantime a few families had 
settled on Elm creek, a few miles west of Heller's, on the 
south side of the river. CassiFs companion was a small 
man, and called by Lew and the settlers, " Little Tim." 

Their first adventure, before the trapping season com- 
menced, was a buffalo hunt on Pipe creek, near the southern 
boundary of Cloud county. Cassil was mounted on Raven, 
and Tim on a mule of doubtful disposition. They had man- 
aged each to bring down a buffalo, and had become separated 
a distance of some hundred rods, when Tim fired at a bull 
at close range, wounding him, and at the report of his gun 
the mule threw Tim over his head. The buffalo made a pass 
at him, tearing a part of his clothing from his person, when 
Tim seized the buffalo by the tail and endeavored to draw 
his hunting-knife, with which to cut the animal's ham-strings. 
For a few seconds the scene was exceedingly ludicrous, 
though involving danger. The buffalo reared and plunged, 
and a part of the time Tim was in the air, and a part of the 
time on the ground, on his feet. Cassil, seeing his comrade's 
situation, galloped to his rescue, but when within a few rods 
of the combatants, Tim succeeded in severing the buffalo's 



THE TRAPPER. 183 

ham-strings, and he was then powerless to do any more in- 
jury, when a shot from Lew's rifle killed him. Tim was ex- 
hausted and badly bruised, but after an hour's rest, during 
which Lew could not refrain from outbursts of laughter, as 
he alluded to Tim's elevated position in the air while holding 
on to the buffalo's tail, they signaled for their teamster, and 
proceeded to skin the buffalo they had killed, loaded the 
wagon with meat, and returned to the settlement. 

At one time Cassil and Tim were trapping on the Repub- 
lican, some miles below the mouth of White Rock creek, 
and they discovered that their traps had been disturbed, and, 
from appearances, that beaver had been taken from them. A 
band of Otoe Indians were known by them to be in camp to 
the northwest, on White Rock creek, and Lew, suspecting 
they had disturbed his traps, determined to reconnoiter the 
position, and at dawn of day quietly proceeded to the vicinity 
of his traps. He discovered an Indian raise a trap and take 
therefrom a beaver. The Indian's horse was fastened to a 
tree a short distance from the Indian, and Lew, quietly and 
unobserved, approached the horse, unfastened him, detached 
the rope from the bridle, made a slip-noose at one end, and, 
secreting himself behind the horse, waited patiently until the 
Indian approached, when he threw the rope suddenly around 
the Indian's neck, drawing it tightly, then passed it round 



184 TBE NORTHERN TIER, 

his body so as to tie his hands behind him, despite the Indian's 
exertions to free himself. He then ordered the Indian to 
mount his horse, when Lew tied the legs of the Indian to- 
gether, passing the rope round the body of the horse in such 
manner that the Indian could not dismount. When he had 
securely bound the Indian to his horse he blew a whistle, 
which brought Tim to the scene. 

"Tim," said Lew, "hold this horse while I complete the 
outfit." 

"What are you doing?" asked Tim. 

"This 'ere redskin has been sowin' his wild oats in our 
trappin' ground, and I propose now he shall harrow them 
in." 

Thereupon Lew cut a bush with the Indian's hatchet, and 
proceeded to fasten it to the horse's tail, much to the annoy- 
ance and grievance of the animal, that manifested its dis- 
pleasure by divers attempts to kick and bite its tormentors, 
despite Tim's exertions to steady the craft. When Lew had 
completed the task of securely attaching the bush to the tail 
of the horse, he told Tim to turn the head of the animal to 
the northwest, in the direction of the Indian camp, and "let 
him rip." The horse reared and plunged, and elevated his 
hind feet as he sped onward over the prairie, while the In- 
dian swayed to and fro like a cottonwood sapling in a hurri- 



LEW CASSIL, THE TRAPPER. 185 

cane, and Lew and Tim alternately laughed and yelled with 
the fullest measure of enjoyment at the ridiculous scene, as 
the horse and rider passed beyond their vision. Lew sup- 
pressed his laughter long enough to indulge in sundry ex- 
pressions, such as, " Hold on, redskin ; harrow them oats in 
good, and maybe they'll grow ! '' 

"Tim," said Lew, "we will now have to pack our traps 
and git out of this 'ere neck of woods, for I 'low when that 
'ere horse and redskin gits into camp there will be a rumpus, 
and afore night they'll be down here after our scalps." They 
therefore packed their traps and proceeded down the river, 
killing an elk in the timber near where the city of Concordia 
now stands. 

Trapping proving unprofitable, in the spring of 1864 Tim 
gave his traps to Cassil and went to the Missouri river towns 
to engage in freighting across the plains to the mountains. 
Cassil continued to hunt and scout for the settlers during the 
summer and autumn season, and during the following winter 
engaged in trapping. 

While trapping during the winter of 1865 and 1866, on 
the Republican river below the mouth of White Rock creek, 
he discovered that his traps had been molested, and he kept 
a sharp watch of them, until finally one morning, at dawn of 
day, he saw an Indian raising one of his traps. In the opin- 



186 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

ion of Cassil, it then and there became necessary, for the 
welfare of the frontier and trappers generally, that that In- 
dian should "pass in his checks" for the happy hunting- 
ground, and he passed them in — how, it is needless to men- 
tion. It was apparent to Cassil that the Indian must be 
concealed, in order, as Lew expressed it, "to throw the bal- 
ance of the tribe ofiP the trail," and as the Indian lay on the 
ice at the edge of a drift, it was but the work of a moment 
for Cassil to roll a large log from the top of a drift that fell 
on the ice with such force as to break and sink a large cake 
of it, and he then dragged the lifeless form of the Indian to 
the opening thus made in the ice, plunged the body into the 
water, and the current bore it away under the ice. Cassil 
then placed the Indian's gun in such position on the ice near 
the log as to indicate that the deceased had been sitting on 
the log on the pile of drift, and that the log had fallen, break- 
ing the ice and drowning the unfortunate redskin. Cassil 
then hastily packed his traps, and concealing his tracks, pro- 
ceeded down the river to the settlements. In a few days the 
Indians came down the river searching for their comrade, and 
inquired of Cassil and of the settlers if they had seen such 
an Indian as they described. Lew had kept his own secret, 
and of course no one had seen the missing Indian; but the 
tribe, for some reason unknown to the settlers, were sus- 



LEW CASSIL, THE TEAPPER. 187 

picious that Cassil was in some manner connected with his 
disappearance. 

In the autumn of 1866, Cassil, a son of Mr. Haines, and 
an immigrant whose name is unknown, went on a buffalo 
hunt on Brown's creek, in Jewell county, and were there 
joined by two sons of William Collins, then residing on 
Wolf creek, in Cloud county. They were attacked by In- 
dians on the head-waters of Buffalo creek, and had a run- 
ning fight for several miles. Their trail showed that they 
made a stand and fought on Buffalo creek, as there were in- 
dications of a lively fight having taken place at that spot ; an 
Indian's head-band containing feathers was found near spots 
of blood on the grass. 

From there the trail gave evidence of a desperate running 
fight to a grove of timber on Little Cheyenne creek, where 
Cassil and his companions were ambushed and the entire 
party killed — not one was left to tell the sad tale. Their 
bodies, horribly mutilated, were found several days after the 
massacre by a party of friends led by Capt. Brooks, and con- 
veyed to Clifton, where they were properly buried. 

The scene of the massacre showed that a desperate fight 
had taken place. In one of Cassil's hands when found was 
his empty revolver, in the other several cartridges, as though 
the last death-grip had clutched them and had not been re- 



188 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

laxed, although he had been killed several days previous, 
showing that he had made a brave defense to the last. The 
fact that the Indians only took the horses, leaving the wagon 
and the revolver in the lifeless grasp of Cassil, was evidence 
that they had suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded, 
whom they hastily conveyed away. 

Thus perished Lew Cassil, as noble and brave a hunter 
and trapper as ever traversed the Western plains; and the 
first settlers of the Republican valley will verify the asser- 
tion that beneath this deer-skin garb beat as warm and noble 
a heart as ever responded to the appeals of humanity. Pas- 
sengers on the C. B. U. P. Railway, some twelve miles west 
of Concordia, can see from the car windows the grove 
wherein, in the fall of 1866, fell Lew Cassil, the trapper. 



CHAPTER 15. 

CUNO VAN TANSY. 

" When, in the course of human events," a boy has cast off 
his juvenile raiment, passed the meridian of his teens, and 
donned men's clothes, it makes but little difference to him 
whether he was born in an almshouse, or in a log cabin in 
the wilderness — whether his respiratory organs were first in- 
flated with the noxious vapors of a garret or tenement house 
in a city, or with the pure mountain air which whistles 
through the crevices of a " dug-out " on the frontier. 

If he have pluck, energy and moral courage, he starts out in 
the world with the consoling idea that the world owes every 
man a living, provided the creditor renders value received 
for that living. As the success or failure of every youth de- 
pends largely upon the culture, treatment and training re- 
ceived under the parental roof, the varied events in the life 
of every individual, whether happy or unhappy, may be 
traced, either directly or indirectly, to the treatment received, 
the examples exhibited and the care bestowed by those who 

have in charge the youthful destiny. I am not a moralist, 

(189) 



190 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

in the sense in which that term is usually employed, but I 
maintain that the wayward career of a majority of young 
men, after they reach the age of manhood, is largely attribu- 
table to those who have the care, culture and training of the 
youthful mind. 

The stern and rigid rule that forbids a boy attending a 
theater or other places of innocent amusement, sooner or later 
makes an unfavorable impression upon his mind, and preju- 
dices him against those who are the cause of his being de- 
prived of privileges enjoyed by his young companions, and 
when he arrives at maturity he is liable to go to extremes in 
his desire to make up time lost during the pleasure-seeking, 
fun-loving years of his boyhood. 

I am unable to give a minute account of the early life of 
the subject of this sketch, owing to the fact that my infor- 
mation has been collected at intervals, in detached portions, 
which I much regret, as his name appears on the Land-Office 
records as having been extensively engaged, either actually 
or supposably, in that mysterious practice in the land busi- 
ness, of filing on claims under a great variety of aliases. 

When and where Cuno Yan Tansy first saw the light of 
day is a mystery. Whether the infant cries and spasmodic 
kicking were appeased by gentle caresses and soothing min- 
istrations of an aflfectionate mother, or whether, as a waif. 



CUNO VAN TANSY. 191 

unknown and unclaimed, he was consigned to the uncharita- 
ble care and rough handling of some hired nurse in an alms- 
house, is wholly unknown. His name implies that he was 
one of those unfortunate beings who from their advent into 
the world are destined thenceforth to have no knowledge of 
their parentage, and doubtless Van Tansy received his name 
through some freak of fancy of the nurse who had the care 
and custody of him at the time of the important event which 
ushered him into the world. Perhaps the person who per- 
formed the task of inclosing him in the first raiment that 
shrouded his delicate person, like the one who did that duty 
for Oliver Twist, may have stimulated her exertions with 
the contents of a "green bottle," containing, not London 
beer, but the American beverage known as " Tansy bitters," 
which circumstance may have suggested to her clouded mind 
the surname of her helpless charge. Be that as it may, some 
one, without his knowledge or consent, bestowed upon him 
the name of Cuno Van Tansy. 

I have had a difficult task to gather correct information of 
his early life, but, after diligent search, have ascertained the 
following brief outline of his infancy and boyhood : 

From the first day of his existence he was obliged to draw 
his rations (consisting of bovine lacteal fluid) from a bottle, 
through a goose-quill wrapped with soiled linen, thrust into 



192 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

his tender mouth by an impatient nurse. He developed , 
slowly under such treatment, and his existence at times de- 
pended largely upon the efforts of nature. When he was a 
small boy his appetite rebelled against the restraint of penu- 
rious guardianship, and became less manageable as he grew 
older. His tastes hesitated between the unripened fruit in 
the neighbors' gardens and orchards, and the transient pies 
and cake on the upper shelf of the musty pantry of the 
domicile in which he was reared. Not that he was by na- 
ture inclined to appropriate the property of others to his own 
use, but his appetite overpowered his juvenile judgment 
touching the debatable questions of right and wrong, and he 
considered himself a tenant in common as to orchards and 
melon patches. 

At the age of ten years, on the morning of the Fourth of 
July, having secured possession of a bunch of fire-crackers, 
he ignited a match, and, applying it to the entire bunch, 
threw them at the feet of his maternal guardian. As soon 
as order was restored, Cuno suffered the penalty of his ad- 
venture, which consisted in his being confined in that part of 
the attic overlooking the street, containing a small window, 
from which he could see, with longing eyes, processions with 
bands of music, and his youthful companions making merry 
on Independence Day. 



CUNO VAN TANSY. 193 

His rebellious spirit, aided by a precocious genius, quickly 
-devised a plan for his freedom, and he mentally adopted an 
individual declaration of independence in sight of the flag 
which floated in the breeze from a building across the street. 

In the room there was an old-styled bedstead, the straw- 
tick and covering of which were supported by a rope fixture. 
Van Tansy deposited the bed-clothes on the floor, and with 
his jack-knife, the only article that occupied his pocket, cut 
the rope, and, detaching it from the bedstead, fastened one 
end and threw the other end of the rope out of the window, 
by which means he descended to the pavement without in- 
jury, save to his hands, which were chafed by the friction. 
He immediately decamped, bidding adieu forever to the house 
and its inmates, from which time forward they could discover 
no trace of him. It is known, however, that on the morning 
of each Fourth of July, at sunrise, he declared his independ- 
ence for the ensuing year; but of his wanderings after his 
reckless descent from the attic window, little is known. 

As he was obliged to change his name to avoid pursuit, 
the practice of assuming aliases became a habit with which 
he could not afterwards dispense, without seriously interfer- 
ing with his plans and projects. 

I have ascertained that he served in the army during the 
war of the Rebellion, though of that fact there is no positive 
13 



194 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

evidence; but if the records of the War Department contain- 
ing the names of the privates in the different regiments were 
examined, doubtless the names George Lookout or Ditto 
Beverly might be found, as they are closely identified with 
that of Cuno Van Tansy on the tract-books of the Land Office. 
He claimed to have been in the army, but circumstances 
over which he had no control deprived him of the best evi- 
dence of that fact, discharge papers — whether withheld for 
disobedience or desertion is not known. 

Be that as it may, the next reliable trace of him was in 
the spring of 1866, when a covered wagon crossed the Mis- 
souri river at St. Joseph, containing two men on their way 
to the frontier. One drove the spirited, well-fed team of 
horses, while his companion sat beside him on the seat with 
a violin, playing that lively, time-honored air among rollick- 
ing, fun-loving old stagers, known as "Over the River to 
Charlie." It was ascertained that the fiddler of the outfit 
was Cuno Van Tansy, going West to "grow up with the 
country." On each side of the wagon-sheet was the follow- 
ing legend in large letters— "KANSAS OR BUST." 

In the autumn of that year the grasshoppers first made 
their appearance in Northern Kansas, and late in the season 
the same team, driven by the same man, without the fiddler, 
went eastward. The only visible change in the horses was a 



CUNO VAN TANSY. 195 

lamentable lack of spirit, caused by an equally lamentable 
lack of flesh, while the faded, dust-covered wagon-sheet on 
each side bore the significant, melancholy word, "BUSTED." 

Van Tansy was left in a "dug-out^' somewhere between 
the Big Blue river and the sixth principal meridian, from 
which point his real-estate transactions branched out in sev- 
eral directions. It was his custom to pick up loose stones 
on the prairie and lay a foundation with four corners, claim 
the land, watch for immigrants, and sell his right to some 
one unacquainted with the land laws. He knew the num- 
bers of many tracts of land, would lay his foundations, then 
go on foot to the Land Office at Junction City, file on the 
tracts alternately in the names of George Lookout, Ditto 
Beverly and Cuno Van Tansy, then return to the land, 
watch for an immigrant, and sell his right. How often he 
engaged in such transactions, or in how many fictitious 
names he filed, is not known. He would sit for hours on 
one of those corner-stones watching for immigrants, whiling 
away the time playing on his violin, apparently as happy as 
Mark Tapley in his jolliest mood. 

In many respects Cuno was a remarkable person. His 
ability to expatiate to an immigrant on the quality of the 
Boil, the beauty of the country, the healthfulness of the cli- 
mate, etc., could not be surpassed by the most expert land 



196 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

agent, and it never failed to induce an immigrant to pur- 
chase the transient right of Cuno to a tract of land on which 
he had laid a temporary foundation of cobble-stones. 

As the country settled rapidly, his shortcomings became 
too well known to settlers and immigrants, and he wisely 
concluded that the glory of the land business had forever de- 
parted; so he collected his earthly treasures and hied him 
away to the mountains, where, in the shadow of the lofty 
ranges, on the margin of the great lake, he joined the Mor- 
mons and became a sojourner in the suburbs of the city of 
the Latter Day Saints. No regrets were expressed at his de- 
parture, but he left as souvenirs on the tract-books in the 
Land Office, a series of enigmas, to unravel which an ingen- 
ious land agent and the clerks of the Department devoted 
time and patience without avail ; and the names of George 
Lookout, Ditto Beverly and Cuno Van Tansy still remain a 
mystery, connected with declaratory statements for tracts of 
land coveted by railroad companies as a part of their grant. 

There came a rumor of doubtful authenticity from the Far 
West, to the effect that Van Tansy could not forego his inher- 
ent desire to lay claim to various tracts of land, and that he 
had filed on a tract that had been allotted to an elder of high 
rank, and when the matter was investigated. Van Tansy, by 
adroitness, and with his usual facility for assuming aliases, 



GUNO VAN TANSY. 197 

asserted that he was not the party; that his name was Van 
Ditto Cuno, and actually proved his assertion by producing 
a certificate of a filing in that name made during his land 
transactions in Kansas ! There came another rumor, that he 
was fortunate and successful in claiming his privileges under 
the rules and sanctions of polygamy ; and as his real-estate 
transactions had been of a transitory nature, he claimed his 
plurality of wives by the same muniments of title, barring 
the doubtful practice of assuming aliases to which his divers 
and sundry spouses seriously demurred. 

After a varied and eventful history he finally lost his life 
in a skirmish with the Indians, and his wives had his body 
decently interred at the base of the mountains, and caused a 
tombstone to be erected to his memory, bearing the follow- 
ing inscription : ^ 

"One shifty land agent less on earth, 
One angel more in Heaven ! " 



CHAPTER 16. 

STAGING. 

There seems to be a custom, or rather a habit, pertaining 
to frontier life, into which every one falls, particularly the 
first settlers — that of relating adventures and rehearsing the 
miraculous escapes and perilous dangers through which each 
old settler passed. There is no definite rule or system in re- 
gard to this kind of story- telling, but a spontaneous impulse 
on the part of those who, for lack of more exciting amuse- 
ment, become transient weights upon goods boxes that adorn 
the sidewalks in Western villages, while they lavishly de- 
scribe the early times, when they "went forty miles to mill, 
or to market their produce'^ — when Indian raids marred the 
pleasure of a hunt, and wolves howled around the cabins 
and "dug-outs" at night. 

Since the advance of civilization, with its attendant im- 
provements and facilities, has lessened the hardships of the 
first settlers, they enjoy a rehearsal of the scenes of that early 
time when the journey to the commercial towns was made 

in covered wagons, requiring several days to make the trip, 

(198) 



STAGING. 199 

before stage-coaches made their appearance to convey the 
weekly mail and transient travelers. 

Staging in the Republican valley was a feature of enter- 
prise, coexistent with the establishing of the Land Office, of 
which the writer had sufficient melancholy experience to ven- 
ture a description of it in these pages, as a dividing link in 
transportation facilities, between a toilsome journey in a cum- 
brous farm wagon and the handsome railway coaches that 
now convey one over the same route of travel in a few hours. 

"All aboard ! " shouted the driver, as he sat on the driver's 
seat in a small, cheerless-looking covered spring wagon, re- 
sembling a half-grown stage-coach of the present day, which 
the driver designated by the name of "jerky,'' as it stood in 
front of the Land Office at early dawn, while the morning 
star was yet shining, and the mercury below zero. 

The driver was almost obscured with robes and blankets, 
while he held in check the restless horses, which evinced 
sundry acts of disobedience, doubtless augmented by coming 
in contact with the cold air, on being brought out of the 
stable. "All aboard!" shouted the impatient driver. There 
was no way of avoiding the journey. 

The rules of the Department required that the receipts of 
the office, semi-monthly, must be conveyed to the depository, 
and the nearest express office was sixty miles away, with no 



200 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

stage route to it, and the "jerky" was bound for Junction 
City, seventy-five miles down the valley, requiring nearly 
two days to make the trip. 

With doubtful prospects I entered the vehicle, the driver 
cracked his whip, and the "jerky '^ rattled away over the 
frozen ground down the valley. Two forlorn homestead set- 
tlers, who had taken claims and were going East for their 
families, were my traveling companions, and- as the "jerky '^ 
rumbled over the rough ground, we were jostled, banged and 
battered sufficient to damage a cast-iron constitution. The 
sun rose bright, and the stillness of the morning, though 
cold, prompted us to hope for a mild day; but our hope 
ended not in fruition, but cheerless discomfort. As the dam- 
aged condition of the imitation of stage covering that inclosed 
the rickety bows of the "jerky" did not obstruct the vision, 
I discovered an embankment of dull, leaden-colored clouds 
lying along the northern horizon, that seemed to be slowly 
rising towards the zenith, while fitful gusts of small whirl- 
winds which dallied with "tumble-weeds" and detached por- 
tions of prairie - grass along the roadside^ were omens that 
betokened an approaching snow storm. 

No regular road had been established, and the trail made 
by immigrant wagons was the only guide for the driver, and 
while the route was down the valley, and a large portion of 



STAGING. 201 

it level, yet at intervals we had to cross a divide or range of 
hills. 

At the base of the first hill we reached, an unlooked-for 
delay occurred, by one of the horses refusing to go up the 
hill, and not only stood still, but manifested a decided prefer- 
ence for pulling backward instead of forward. In vain the 
driver applied his whip, accompanied with the usual amount 
of emphatic language from the stage-driver's vocabulary. 
We alighted and ^^put our shoulders to the wheel,'' but with- 
out avail, however, for we were compelled to walk up the 
hill — an exercise our chilled limbs needed — while the driver 
made a wide circuit, approaching the summit obliquely. 

Meantime the sky became overcast with clouds and the 
snow began falling. 

Late in the afternoon we arrived at the station for changing 
horses. By this time the snow was drifting, and danger of 
becoming lost on the prairie induced the driver to remain 
over night. 

The station consisted of the dwelling of the owner — a 
"dug-out" and log cabin combined, and so arranged as to re- 
semble a "double" log cabin, with an open porch between, 
and a cheap straw-thatched Kansas stable, made by forks set 
in the ground, with poles laid across, covered with straw or 



202 THE NORTHERN TIER, 

prairie grass, the whole structure surrounded with straw and 
corn-shocks. 

One room of the dwelling house was used for kitchen and 
dining-room combined, and the other used as a sitting-room 
with a fire-place, the jambs and mantel-piece laid up in the 
rough. 

Into the latter we were conducted by the host, who left us 
to occupy seats while he went to the wood-pile to procure 
fuel to replenish an apology for a fire that feebly flickered 
between a green "back-log" and "fore-stick," reminding one 
of the end of life. He seemed to be lamentably slow as he 
shambled along with an armful of green cottonwood sticks, 
which he deposited promiscuously on the fading embers; and 
after fanning the embers into brightness with his slouched 
hat, he left us with the consoling remark : 

"I guess it'll burn." 

The green cottonwood sticks hissed like so many writhing 
serpents, and for all the heat or warmth they emitted one 
might as well have been sitting by a vanishing camp-fire on 
the shore of Hudson's Bay in midwinter. 

I had heard of the "every-day ague" and the "third-day 
ague," but if I had been afflicted with both those diseases, 
with the "dumb ague" thrown in, I could not have been 



STAGING. 203 

more chilled and uncomfortable than in that melancholy 
mood, as I gazed at that mass of cottonwood sticks hissing 
among the embers, while the storm without beat furiously 
against the clattering window-sash. 

At length supper was announced, which might properly 
be called a second-class cold lunch, as the house was '' out of 
coffee." 

After supper I concluded our host had some redeeming 
qualities, as he brought in a basketful of corn-cobs, with 
which he built a roaring fire, and he entertained us with sev- 
eral lively airs on the violin, at which he seemed to be more 
expert than keeping a boarding-house or stage-station. 

Our sleeping apartment was in that part of the building, 
in Western parlance, " up stairs," the route to which were the 
irregular rounds of a ladder, and the room, that which might 
be designated as the garret of a log cabin. Our sleeping- 
couch was a straw tick laid upon the floor, with a solitary 
blanket for covering. The gable end of the "up stairs" had 
a place or aperture for a window with the window left out, 
and in lieu thereof a segment of a wagon-cover fastened 
across it to prevent the snow and rain blowing into the room, 
which proved to be an insufficient barrier on the occasion of 
which I write. Sleep was out of the question with that 
wagon-sheet flapping, and the mournful sound of the wind 



204 THE NORTHERN TIER. 

as it penetrated every crevice, conveying the drifting snow 
into the chamber. At day-dawn I thrust aside the wagon- 
sheet and looked out over the desolate landscape to the east. 
The clouds had disappeared, the wind was decreasing in ve- 
locity, and I beheld a cold, cloudless sky. Near by was the 
ice-bound Republican; on the other side of the river a 
range of dismal, snow-covered hills or bluffs, and beyond 
them the blue sky and twinkling stars fading away in the 
gray streaks of day-dawn. 

We had a cold, cheerless journey on the following day to 
Junction City, where I deposited my package, consisting of 
a fragment of the Nation's revenue of considerable value, in 
the express office. Subsequently I made many such jour- 
neys over the same route, through storm or sunshine, varied 
only with the variations of the weather over which "Old 
Probabilities'' had no control. 

When the country became more thickly settled, and trav- 
elers penetrated this region, the Southwestern Stage Com- 
pany put on the roads their commodious stage-coaches, with 
a daily line from Waterville to Concordia, and for several 
years I made semi-monthly trips in those coaches to Water- 
ville, bearing the receipts of the office to the express office. 
Many of those journeys were enjoyable, barring an occasional 
trip during a rain or snow storm, and an occasional necessity 



STAGING. 205 

requiring that I should recline on top of the coach the entire 
route, owing to the interior being crowded with women and 
children. At such times the kindness of the gentlemanly- 
drivers served to dispel the otherwise dispiriting prospect of 
comfortable traveling. 

The early settlers of the Republican and Solomon valleys 
will long remember the daily arrival of the stage-coaches, 
when the prospects for a railroad were doubtful, only en- 
livened by transient railroad meetings, appointing commit- 
tees and passing extravagant resolutions. But since the 
whistle of the locomotive has been heard in these valleys the 
stage-coaches are numbered among the things of the past. 
Yet they will be remembered among the scenes of frontier 
life, and the names of Scott and Benjamin as superintendents, 
and Murphy, Huggins, Conant, O'Toole and others, who 
handled the ribbons as drivers, will be remembered by those 
whose frontier traveling so long consisted of staging in North- 
western Kansas. 



